We The Orphans
by WaffleGirlIsAwesome432
Summary: Annabeth and Percy are taken and treated as servants for-yup-Gabe. They escape and travel across the country in search of their family in New York. Not as crappy as it sounds, hopefully. A major Percabeth!
1. Chapter 1

You might not expect a seven year old girl to know pain and agony when she see's it, but I'm not your average seven year old girl now am I?

It all started when I was five, when who's now known as my worst nightmare came along, waltzing right through our door. Gabe Ugliano. The name fit him, seeing that he had a big ugly scar running down his face from the right corner of his forehead down to his upper lip, just a long scraggily line with obvious stitch marks.

I knew from the second I saw him that he didn't have any good intentions for barging right into my home. It happened so quickly: Daddy pushed me under the cupboard and blocked it while my step-mom Sue backed up against the wall.

Right before my eyes, Gabe killed Daddy with a large butcher knife with the blade thin and sharp, glaring coldly in the one second flash of lightning. Then it was dark…And I heard Daddy fall to the floor, half of the long, shiny blade hidden in his chest.

I screamed as a thick, sticky red liquid quickly dyed his white polo shirt. And I knew for a fact that it was not the sweet cranberry juice Daddy would give me in the morning with my pancakes and eggs shaped in a smiley face.

I didn't mean to scream, really! And I _really_ didn't want Gabe to grab me around the neck with one fist, ripping me out of the cupboard so carelessly that I hit my head on the wood. I yelped and sobbed as he only tightened his grip, kicking and screaming and wanting air.

Why did he kill Daddy? Who was he? Sue cried out my name, and that only gave attention to her self, doing anything but saving me. Next thing I know, Sue's falling to the ground, her nicely polished fingernails scratching against the wall as she fell, her hands leaving a nice trail of blood.

Gabe grinned at me, snickering and scratching his awfully shiny bald head as if he had hair there and whispered in my ear, "Night, night, brat."

With a 'no' escaping my lips in a scream, I fell like a ragdoll onto the cold, hard tiles, head first.

* * *

"Wake up, you little brat! I said, WAKE UP!" He slapped me across the left cheek, eyes filled with venom. I cried silently and scrambled back until my spine hit someone's leg. I gasped and my head snapped up as I scrambled away from this stranger too.

The unfamiliar man pulled me up and chuckled, "Better listen to what he says, girly." I immediately fell back down when Gabe emerged from the shadows and glared down at me with small, beady, onyx colored eyes. He laughed cruelly as the other man punched me in the face, yelling, "Fetch him some beer, you worthless pest!"

Gabe glared into the shadows behind him and yelled in a booming voice, "Boy! Get over here right now before I pound you, dammit!" There's somebody else here too? I'm not suffering alone?

A boy my age and size emerged from the shadows and glared right back at Gabe, shouting, "Oh, why should I listen to you, you obese son of a lousy pig!" In the next second, Gabe's dirty fist connected with the boy's jaw, and the boy fell back. Without yelping and crying like me, he stood right back up, wiped the blood from his mouth and snarled.

"You fight like my smelly old grandmother, Gabe Ugliano!" That's how I learned the murder's name. Gabe just snorted just like the pig the boy claimed him to be and waved it off.

"Take this girl to the kitchen to get us some beer, and don't try any tricks, _Jackson_." The boy stuck his tongue out at him, then grabbed my bruised wrist and dragged me to a rotten old room that must've been the kitchen. Ignoring the awful, throbbing pain in my head, I followed him, eager to get some answers out of the kid.

He glanced around, pulled me to the right so we were out of sight and whispered, watching me with wide, sea green eyes, "I'm Percy Jackson, what's your name?"

I sniffled and rubbed my eye, "Annabeth Chase. Wh-why am I here? Why'd he kill my parents? Why are you here?" He scratched his raven colored hair that stuck to his forehead, damp with sweat and blood, his eyebrows scrunched together in a frown.

"He found me and my mom, and he forced my mom to marry him, and I'm supposed to be…to be some sorta slave or something. It was just us with Gabe's smelly old freak show creeps until you came yesterday. What he does is horrible, just killing people like this…it's just not right! He gives me stupid little crumbs and scraps, and maybe some stale bread if I'm lucky and a shower to me is a cup of filthy ol' dirty water over my head!"

I cried again, looking down at my dirty feet, "I wanna go home!" He covered my mouth quickly, shaking his head furiously.

"Can't show any weakness here, Annie! He'll pound you into dust! It's horrible! Now just stay behind me and keep on quiet. Don't worry!" He grinned, flashing me a perfectly dimpled, pearly white smile that just didn't fit his messy appearance and turned around to the fridge.

He got three beers and we scampered back to Gabe. He shoved one at Gabe, and the other at the man who punched me, who gave me a toothless grin. He went over to another man that I hadn't noticed and tossed it to him.

My new friend scowled hostilely up at Gabe and crossed his arms, "Anything else, you fat cow?" Gabe ruffled his hair, but the boy pushed away his hand with a look of disgust. Well I sure couldn't agree more: Gabe's a filthy criminal who uses kids as slaves. I think he deserves to rot!

Gabe took a big swish of beer and shrugged, "I'll call you if I think of something. Now hurry up and get out of here! And take the little brat with you!" My friend scoffed, grabbed my arm and took me down the hall and into a small room with one bed that had a dirty pillow and a thin beat up blanket hanging halfway off. It had a small shelf that only had one other shirt and a box of matches, and I think I spotted a small bible laying face down in a corner.

He shut the door behind him and glanced up pitifully at the small light bulb providing pathetically little light, "This is it, my room. But I think of it as a prison. Let's clear this up first; my real name is Perseus, but I'd rather be called Percy instead, though the name is kinda cool, you gotta admit. And now, this is our room. Gabe thinks this room is too much space taken up by me, but my mom convinced him…_somehow_."

We sat on the bed and wrapped the blanket around our shoulders. I sniffed, "Where's your mom?" He shrugged, glaring at the bare wall opposite of us.

"He knows how smart I am. He keeps her somewhere else, locked up, and I hardly even see her." I frowned at a mirror hanging in an odd angle on the back of the shut door, the corner shattered, but still in place.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

He shrugged, smiling slightly, "About a minute or two." I punched him weakly in the arm, smirking.

"No, stupid! How long has he kept you and your mom trapped in this awful place?" He pointed at an old calendar on the floor, a foot from the little bible.

"I've been counting. It's been over two years, he got us when I was five," he looked resentful for a second, then beamed at me. "Guess what!"

I shrugged, slightly annoyed, mostly cold, "I don't know, what?" He grinned.

"My birthday's in a month! I'm gonna be eight on August 18th! And Gabe's even gonna let me see my mom!"

I smiled back in a weak effort; it was just so cold! "That's great!" Just minutes later we laid down, sharing the pillow, and fell asleep…and I think he was drooling. Eck. Boys… But at least I had a friend, and after two years of this muck, I can't believe he's still nice.

And he's the first friend I've ever had.


	2. Chapter 2

I drummed my fingers on the table, sighing and glaring at the dirty, faded cream colored white, old clock that ticked off the seconds only too slowly and muttered, "Stupid, freakin' retarded, filthy, no good, rotten, worthless, son of a—"

A deep voice laughed behind me, "I hope you're not describing me."

I scrambled up and whirled around, blushing furiously with wide eyes fixed on him and said louder, "—awesome, incredibly talented, amazingly smart, extremely handsome, charming son of god. Ye—yeah. That's…what I…meant. He, he." I smiled nervously.

He snorted, rolling his eyes and sat beside me. He set the groceries bag down on the scraped, round table, "Give it a rest, Wise Girl. Look, I got the groceries, so let's just hurry the heck up and make this stupid friggin' dinner." Then he mumbled, "And hopefully sneak some poison into it."

I hit his arm and glanced around, worried, "Shh! He's gonna hear you, you idiot!" He got out a small plastic bag with tomatoes in it and got a cutting board out. I got out sweet potatoes and we washed the fruit—wait, what the heck? I'm going crazy; I meant to say vegetables…even though tomatoes are considered fruit—in a comfortable silence.

He cut up the tomatoes on one side of the counter while I peeled my potatoes by the sink. Percy always did the work on the side of the counter, mainly because there were five nice kitchen knives hanging on sort of holder, like when you see nice glasses in those wine racks, but for knives, and there's only a few.

Though it was small and dull, I refused to be in foot radius of the butcher-like knife on the left edge, farthest from me. Percy knew my reasons to be horrified by the knife, and he didn't say anything as I glanced suspiciously at it, thinking about when _he_ would pick it up, look up at me and wink knowingly, chuckling cruelly, when I disobeyed him…

I met Percy's gaze and he smiled comfortingly. I pressed my lips into a line, trying to smile for his sake, but by his feeble efforts to keep from laughing, I looked like a goat. He once told me that before, too. I scoffed, rolling my eyes and peeled another potato.

"So…I still can't believe he let's you go out into public," I said, clearing my throat. Percy got out some red peppers and started slicing those up too, swift and trusting with his strong, unfailing hands.

"I know me either. But he has some guys watching me from far away; I saw Johnny and Smithy sitting in the café casually as I was on my way back, and I also spotted Jacque and Marvin in a van, watching me suspiciously as I walked by," He said, starting to slash up some yellow and green peppers now.

I nodded, picking up the peelings and tossing them into the trash, "Sounds like him. So, what're we making again?"

"Chicken salad and yams," He put the long, thin knife by me and smiled at me, "And that's not the only reason why he lets me go." I started slicing the potatoes up with the same blade he set by me and paused to look at him expectantly.

"He knows I'd never leave you here," he continued. "I'd have to be the absolute _worst_ person ever to leave you here with him." I smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks Percy," I softly told him. He just shrugged modestly and mumbled, "You're only saying that because you know it's true," as he went to the fridge and pulled out some chicken breast we had gotten from _El Pollo Loco_ yesterday, along with some shakes that we bought with our left over money.

The making of Gabe's dinner continued coolly like that, nice, smooth, casual; same as usual. We may have only been twelve and a half, but considering all the things we did around here, this was nothing. The day after my arrival here when we had to make him breakfast—not a pretty story—Percy taught me a lot of stuff, practically a professional chef compared to me. Believe me, I tried getting out cereal when I was little and next thing you know, firefighters are surrounding our house.

Johnny came in a said in his deep, surly voice, "You brats almost done?" I rolled my eyes as Percy grinned at him, thinking, _Here we go again…_

Sure enough, Percy threw out his fist, expecting a fist pump, "Johnny boy! Ha, ha! My man! Yo, wazzup, home dog?" Johnny just stared at him, his fists clenched at his sides. I stifled a giggle as Percy just shrugged and started swinging his arms back and forth, jumping up and down slightly.

"Okay, guess not…" Then he grinned and winked and him, "Dude, I saw this _totally_ hot chick—no offense, Banana-beth—" I rolled my eyes, he's called me that since forever, "—and she was just, wow, she was killing me in that mini skirt, you know? And—"

Johnny went off the deep end. "SHUT UP, FOOL! Just because I'm black doesn't mean you should…ugh! I am sick and tired of you and your little games, Jackson!" He socked Percy in the jaw, making me gasp, and Percy just staggered for a second, then shrugged as Johnny stalked out.

I quickly got out some ice, put in a paper towel, and lightly pressed it against his cheek, muttering, "Stupid Seaweed Brain." Louder, I scolded him, "You can't just leave them alone, can you! God, just once, _once_, Percy, I'd like you to quit getting yourself hurt!"

Percy smiled at me, his eyes still filled with amusement, but they were soft, apologetic and sincere, "You're worse than my mother. Anna-Banana, you need to quit worrying so much. Right now, we should be worrying about the fact about how you-know-who's gonna be here in half an hour."

Oh crap.

I nervously pushed the plate to him, clearing my throat, "Here you go, sir." Percy snorted behind me, just tossing the beer at Gabe lazily. Percy never understood why I was so afraid of him, but he really did scare me. Gabe slapped me across the cheek and I heard Percy growl behind me as Gabe yelled, "Go get a fork, bitch! You expect me to eat like a pig?"

"Don't you?" Percy muttered. Gabe snapped his fingers and Jacque started beating him up. I winced, and went to the kitchen with tears in my eyes, knowing I couldn't do anything else.

I hate feeling so vulnerable.

I gave him a fork and watched sadly as Percy got back up to his feet, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his nose, just snickered at Gabe, "What's wrong, Gabe? Hiding behind your little buddies like the coward you are, old man? Tsk, tsk, tsk." I glared disapprovingly at him. Gabe scoffed.

"I could take you any day, boy. In fact, tomorrow morning I'm gonna teach you a lesson," Gabe snarled.

Percy shrugged innocently, looking completely unfazed by Gabe's appearance, "I'll be waiting." We started walking back to our room with Percy stopped and turned around. "Oh, and by the way, you still fight like a woman."

I pulled him into the room and shut the door before the glass bottle hit him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3, everyone give me a 'hooray!'...okay...Um, thanks to everyone who reviews my stories! *wipes tear* I LOVE YOU PEOPLE-Okay, sorry, but no, I don't, no not really.**

**blackbutterfly21: Percy still calls her Wise Girl, don't worry, but heck, he can have more nicknames for her, right? :)**

**JayJay-Lynn: Well, yup! They're sixteen here in this chapter and throughout the rest of the story! Haha, be prepared for Annabeth's hormonal thoughts about Percy in the next chappie. ;D**

**BeautyandtheBeast101575: Yeah, those quotes are my personal favs from that chapter. :) And no, they're mortals. But if I can get people to vote on the poll on my profile, maybe they can be demigods. I mean, hey, you never know what could happen.**

**IamWafflesHearMeRAWR: Exactly! Thank you! At least SOMEONE understands!**

* * *

"Percy, seriously, try not to upset Gabe, okay? Please? Do it for me and your mom," I pleaded, my head in his lap as we waited to be let out of our miniature prison.

He glared at the wall, just like when he was younger, "No. That filthy son of a pig deserves _way_ more than a couple of insults from me. First, he takes me and my mom and kills my dad. Next, he treats me like a servant and locks up my mom after forcing her to marry him. Third, he beats us up like a punching bag. Then, he murders your parents and drags you into this mess too. That's four reasons, and you don't think those reasons are enough to murder him too?"

I sat up, "Percy, I—"

"Think about it, Annabeth." He turned me towards him and held me by my shoulders, "That…that _freak_ over there made you an orphan."

The word stung, and it sliced right through me like that butcher knife. _Orphan_. I winced and hung my head. No way would I let that Kelp Head see me cry. But he raised my chin, staring deep into my eyes, waiting. _I'm an orphan_…

I shook his hands off, but put my head on his shoulder. Well that doesn't make much of a difference, now does it? "First, Percy, the last thing I need is for you to get hurt too." I pointed at my bruised jaw, and Percy frowned, looking both worried and angry. Worried for me, angry at Gabe. "And second, if we did kill him, would that make us any better of a person than him? We can't stoop down to his low level."

Reluctantly, Percy nodded and hugged me. "The lowest of the low," He agreed. I buried my face in his shoulder and mumbled, hoping he wouldn't hear, "I can't lose you too, of all people."

Just my luck that the stupid Seaweed Brain had the hearing of an elephant.

He pulled me away and looked me straight in the eye with seriousness written all over; his bright sea green eyes making me feel like he could stare into my soul, "It's those dreams again, isn't it?"

We stood and I absentmindedly rubbed my scraped forearm, smiling nervously at him, "It's really…just, nothing to worry about, Percy." I laughed with even more uneasiness, "I mean, psh, they're just dreams, right?" But the last word came out in a squeak.

Percy crossed his arms, scowling down at me like a father to his child, "Annabeth Chase, you and I both know that having a dream _every_ night for _three whole months_ is anything but 'nothing to worry about.'"

Before I could say anything, Gabe threw open the door, a woman's thong on his shoulder. I crinkled my nose in disgust. Ew, I so did _not_ want to know what was going on when we were asleep.

Gabe looked me up and down, "What the hell's wrong with _you_?" He said it casually, not as mean as usual. Fortunately or unfortunately, he was always in a good mood after…you know, sleeping with some striper from a bar. Nasty and incredibly disturbing?

You have no idea.

Percy cleared his throat and wiped away my tears hurriedly as he tried to think of an excuse that wouldn't get me beaten. Just my luck that he came up with the most embarrassing, stupidest, unfortunately truest excuse ever. "Oh, uh…nothing. She's uh…she's PMS-ing." I glared at him.

Gabe stared at me like he suddenly regretted asking. Good. "Oh, uh…that's nice. Um, j-just…be sure to buy her some…some pads or…or whatever you girls use for…that." He quickly left the room.

I hit Percy upside the head, "You idiot, what was that for?"

He rubbed his head, "Well it's true!" Then he mumbled, "Obviously."

I sighed, "Yeah, but he didn't have to know that! Ugh, come on, Seaweed Brain, let's go make breakfast." I tugged on his wrist and he stared at me like I was crazy before walking out, me on his heels.

* * *

I inhaled a shaky breath and walked back till my spine met the cold wall, my eyes watery as Gabe came forward, an empty beer in his hand. He was just about to punch me when Percy suddenly stepped in front of me and caught his fist.

I moved out of the way and watched with tears as both pairs of eyes grew angrier by the second. Percy's mom Sally grabbed my hand and I looked up at her, scared. Before Gabe said anything, Percy—swift, graceful and vicious as a panther— turned and threw Gabe onto the wall, his nose crunching from the impact of the push. Ew.

Percy grabbed Gabe's empty beer bottle and threw it onto Gabe's head, momentarily dazing and hurting him as Percy scrambled back, his eyes nearly black, wild. Gabe whirled around, his nose practically pouring out blood.

"You're gonna pay for that, boy," he snarled. Gabe charged, and quick as a cat, Percy jumped out of the way, then pushed or captor onto the ground with his foot.

"Percy!" I called out, fighting against Sally's arms holding me back. For a mom—no offense, moms—she was pretty darn strong. Gabe got to his feet (eventually) and cracked his knuckles as he walked slowly towards Percy, who just glared at him, his eyes defiant.

"You're a dead man walking, asshole, you know that? Fight like a man!"

Percy snorted and leaned casually against the wall, "Sorry, I don't fight old men."

That made him angry. next thing I know, Percy's nose is also bleeding, but the thing that really made me gasp was the cut running halfway down his fore arm, about five or six inches long. Percy winced, but let the blood stream down and off his hand, onto the floor, just smirking at Gabe.

"Hiding behind a knife? Tsk, tsk. You should know better than to play with weapons," Percy snickered. Unexpectedly, Gabe grabbed Sally and held the five inch Dawson Double-edged Dagger Blade Mint to her throat. I jumped, my eyes wide.

Percy swallowed back his anger, glaring murderously at Gabe. But then I saw something. He made an 'okay' sign with his fingers behind his back. I immediately caught on.

Quietly, I ran back to our room, stuffed our things, like the half empty box of matches, the worn out little bible and some clothes, into a bag. Then crammed our money into my pockets. I went back to the room and Gabe laughed cruelly, not knowing I was there.

"Stupid boy. One more step, one more word, and your mom's dead. Got it?"

Percy gulped, a tear in one eye, "You filthy rotten, son of a bi—" I tuned out the long string of curse words, pretty much out of habit. It wasn't very uncommon to hear Percy cussing at Gabe.

After he was done—finally—Gabe just shrugged, and bam, Sally fell to the floor, the knife in her back. I screamed her name and crouched down next to her, but it was useless. She was dead.

Percy stared at her corpse for one long second before, growling, grabbing a different knife off the floor—I know, how careless of Gabe, huh? I think he was secretly hoping

we would step on it accidently—and stabbed Gabe in the arm, then created a long, disturbingly ugly gash that went all down his arm and yelled to me, "Now!" I know, you're thinking, _The arm? Of all places, the _arm?_ Why not kill him! _Right now, I'm pretty much thinking of the same thing, despite what I told Percy this morning.

I grabbed our backpack and we ran out, an even _longer_ string of cuss words rolling off Gabe's tongue. We ran and ran, not looking back, then caught a glance of Gabe's car and tumbled in. Luckily, the black Ford truck had tinted windows, and it had a good amount of gas, so we wouldn't and wouldn't _be_ stopped for awhile.

As Percy drove—Gabe made sure he got his license immediately, so that he could stop driving him around everywhere for groceries—I clung to his arm, crying as we gasped for breath from our 'little jog.' Then I quickly let go, surprised my the sudden wetness on my arm. Oh crap, Percy's cut. I got out the medical kit under the seat (why was that there again?) and carefully dabbed and it with some gauze. Percy winced and tried not to swerve, saying nothing.

I wrapped it up and sighed, putting my head on his shoulder this time, "Stupid Seaweed Brain."

"Smart Wise Girl," Percy shot back with a smile. I just glared at him.

"I swear, if you try to take this bandage off or move your arm too much, I'll kill you." He just rolled his eyes and put that arm around my shoulders as I wiped away my tears.

I, Annabeth Chase, sixteen years old, finally escaped with Percy Jackson, also sixteen.

Oh god, _finally, _we escaped.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4, ready for reading! I know it's a bit shorter, but heck, I don't really care, so ha! Deal with i-Sorry...**

**IamWafflesHearMeRAWR: Well, I just put up a poll for it on my profile, so heck, I'm just waiting for people to vote on it.**

**Athena Forever, Dark Phantom 96: I totally agree! XD Gabe can go screw himself for all I care!**

**Ereader64: Oh believe me, Percy's definitely angry about it. It'll start to really show in chptrs five and six.**

**larkgrace: I know! I'm killing myself for killing Sally! But hey thanks, it's weird cuz nobody's gave me a bad comment on my story...NOT THAT I WANT ANY! DX**

**filmfurry: I sure hope you guys like this story. :)**

* * *

I woke up to see Percy next to me, casually ripping a napkin. But then he muttered, "Rotten son of a pig. I'll make him pay big time for killing her." He angrily took a pen and stabbed the napkin, then tore right through the whole thing, untill there were only tatters of it in his lap. Then he just shrugged it off and grabbed an empty water bottle. He drew a face on it, then started to crunch it up until it was just a smushed thing with a bottle cap.

"Percy?" I croaked, my voice hoarse with sleep. He met my gaze and I noticed how wild and angry his eyes were. I put my hand on his shoulder, struggling to sit up, "I'm so sorry about Sally." Bad move.

His eyes flashed dangerously, and he shook my hand off, exited the car and stormed off through some trees, punching the branches as he went. I huffed, crossing my arms, "Well that's just friggin' perfect, Annabeth. You just _had_ to bring up his mom's death, didn't you, stupid?"

I waited, taking note on the scenery. We were in some kind of forest…near a road, a little off to the side. No cars passed. My stomach growled, and I glanced around the seats for food.

Gosh, even a cereal bar sounded like an all-you-can-eat buffet right now. But then I looked at the cup holder next to me, and there was some oatmeal from Jamba Juice just sitting there, nice and hot…I grabbed it and started eating, practically stuffing my face as I wondered absentmindedly about Percy.

Percy came back from the trees and sat on the hood of the car, looking much calmer than before, and I thought wryly, _Speak of the devil_. The sun was on him as he stretched, flexing his arms and yawning, then ruffling his hair like he always did.

I leaned back in my seat, smirking to myself. _A _hot_ devil,_ I corrected myself. He had toned biceps, and sure, he did have a pretty nice six pack underneath that clinging white T shirt. Mmhmm, oh yeah, I am _definitely_ enjoying the view.

Suddenly he turned around, then saw me staring and gave me a weird look, mouthing, "What?" I blushed, that dreamy smile dropping from my face. Oh crap. He caught me.

Quickly, I looked down and redid my sloppy bun. He opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat. I secretly watch through my bangs as I kept my head down, but Percy just rolled his eyes and turned his head to me.

"Why're you staring at me?" Am I really that obvious? "Yes." …Great, I'm probably talking out loud again. "Yup." I blinked, then just scoffed and stared out the window.

"If looks could kill…" He muttered. I smiled playfully and punched his arm, "Shut up." He winked at me, then got out a map, "Okay…okay, you know Dave from Starbucks?" I nodded. "He gave me this map and pointed out a few hotels to stay at. Plus, I got the newspaper."

I grabbed the map, and he got the news. For some reason, he was always interested in the news. I sometimes call him an old man for it. "Percy, where are we?"

He ran his fingers through his shaggy hair calmly, "648 Middle Satsop Road, Montesano, Washington."

I raised my eyebrows, "Pretty specific, Percy. God knows how you were able to memorize such a long address." He snorted, rolling his eyes. Any who…I began scanning the map for a hotel of some sort that we could stay at.

Percy poked my shoulder. Repeatedly. I ignored it the best I could, gripping the map a little too tight. Let's see…_poke_…ugh…_poke, poke_…go up the roa—_poke_. Argh! Go up the road, get on the highwa—_poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, po_—

"What?" I yelled, scowling up at him. He gave me an innocent, blank look. _Poke, poke._

He smiled, _finally_ stopping, and pointed at the newspaper, "Feel like sight seeing?" I leaned closer, squinting through my dyslexia at the page. What the heck did that say…

"Does that say," I held one side of the page. "Comlewe to Tonum Niriaer…?"

Percy cleared his throat, amused. I blinked and blushed, leaning back.

"Oh," I looked up at him, my cheeks getting redder. "It says, 'Welcome to Mount Rainier.'"

Percy chuckled, nodding, "Yeah, it's the fifth oldest national park in America. From the ad, you can cross-country ski, snowshoe, and snowboard. And you can spend a couple of nights there, probably in a hotel, or cabin, or something." He shrugged, giving me an adorable half smile as his eyes sparkled in the morning sun. "I thought maybe we can enjoy our freedom to the fullest. So why not have a little fun?"

I grinned at him, "Really?" Then, I felt my face fall. "But…the money—"

"Don't worry about that, Wise Girl. I've got it covered. And, I searched it on my phone, look at the views." He showed me a picture that showed Mt. Rainier with a beautiful snowy white cap, and there was a crystal clear lake, with a few trees around it, that showed the exact reflection of the mountain and edge of the forest.

"It's called Tahomas Looking Glass. Beautiful, huh?" I nodded silently, soaking up the idea of Percy and me going _alone_ to such a beautiful sight. Fifth oldest national park in America… "So, you wanna go, Wise Girl?"

I beamed at him, "Oh, heck yeah, Seaweed Brain!" He nodded, holding out his phone.

"It's settled then! How far is it from here?" I grabbed his phone as he started the car and searched it on Google Maps. Dang, his phone has a big screen…

"The quickest way is two hours, nineteen minutes. It's through the National Park Highway," I told him, propping my feet up on the dash board.

Percy flashed me a dazzling, pearly white grin, "Just tell me the way, Annie." I smiled back shyly, blushing at how irresistibly charming he was.

Curse you, hormones.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ugh, I worked on this for about ten hours-not! Probably...40 minutes, give or take. And hey! Guess what? I'm adding a new character to the story, peeps. Lemme give you a hint: Annabeth's jealous of her, and her _3_ initials spell a certain color. ;) I know, an obvious hint.**

**filmyfurry: Yes, 'sight seeing' with Annabeth. *wink wink* ALONE with Annabeth. *hint hint* I'll try to make chptr six and seven fluffy, but not to the point of making them a couple. But yes, there will be teenage hormones involved. (gotta love those hormones, eh? lol, jk)**

**somebody615: don't worry, bud. They get together waaaaaaaaay later after this. Waaay in the future. And thanx, i'm glad u like my story.**

**The Daughter of the Greek Gods, TwIx27, Ereader64: I'm definitely on a roll with writing chapters quickly off the top of my head; this was a breeze, and absolutely no writer's block came to torture me. Yes! XD**

**Oh! And just to let you know, this is REAL information. I'm serious, I don't live in Washington (I'm a Cali girl) but I looked this all up on Google Maps, and people who are in this area of Washington can be my witnesses...so can Google Maps. **

**This took the longest time ever, looking it all up, so you better like it! haha, jk...but seriously.**

* * *

Annabeth sighed, looking out the window, watching us pass by cars on the National Park highway. I am sooooo bored, no exaggeration shown. I turned on the radio and we perked up when the singer said, _"Once upon a time…Not so long ago…"_

She sat up and grinned at me, "Do you think it's that song?"

I laughed as her eyes lit up and turned it up loud, "Oh yeah!"

_Tommy used to work on the docks, Unions been on strike—_

We sang along, obviously horrible at singing, _"He's down on his luck…it's tough, so tough…"_ I rolled down the windows. I wouldn't be surprised if we made people's ears bleed. _"Gina works the diner all day. Working for her man, she brings home her pay for love—for love_._"_

Annabeth and I sucked in a big breath and sang—more like yelled—the next part, _"She says we've gotta hold on, to what we've got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We've got each other, and that's a lot for love—we'll give it a shot!"_

Even louder, the speakers blowing, we sang/yelled, _"Whoa, we're half way there. Living on a prayer! Take my hand, and we'll make it, I swear."_

We sang the whole song, and when we got to the end, Annabeth suddenly gasped, pulling back her legs from my lap. Yes, her feet were in my face until just a moment ago. She pointed at the huge sign, jumping up and down, "Turn right there! Turn right there! Percy, this is our exit! 'Marvin Road Yelm,' it's right there!"

I snorted at her panic and easily got off the highway, teasing her, "What's wrong, did you think I was blind? Or were you just so excited that you forgot that it was completely unnecessary to scream?"

She rolled her eyes and pushed my shoulder with her foot, "Psssh. Maybe you should shut up for awhile; you'd be doing us both a favor."

I scoffed, pushing her foot away before I made a turn, "Well, pardon me, ma'am. But I'm driving, so you'd be doing yourself good if _you_ shut your pothole for a little while."

She put her feet in my lap again, making driving incredibly hard when it was hard not to be distracted by those silky calves of hers. I put my hand on her calf and she raised an eyebrow at me.

I pinched her hard and she drew back her feet, "OW! Gosh, Seaweed Brain, what was that for!" I snickered, my eyes set on the road like the good driver I am…not.

"That was for insulting me." I slapped her knee, pushing her away and laughed when she yelled, 'Hey!' "That was for using me as a foot rest."

She scoffed, then changed positions and stuck her head under my injured arm so that it was around her neck. She slid under me until her head was on my chest, then got the map out and rubbed her nose absentmindedly as she studied it, "Mmm…we're on Saint Clair Cutoff Road, right?"

I nodded, "I believe that's correct." She shrugged, tossing the map onto her seat, where her feet were.

"Then you just keep following it onto East Yelm Avenue," then she rest her head on my left arm, making it even more difficult to keep driving. I could felt her breathe softly onto my arm, and I gulped. Crap. I could also see that her hair shine in the ten a.m. sun, and those princess curls were so perfect…I frowned to myself and forced myself to lock my eyes on the road. She turned over to look at me, and I could feel her gaze, but all I did was roll my eyes at her, not bothered by her staring.

But of course, I got a _little_ concerned when she started muttering, 'he's so hot and sexy looking with his hair like that and his handsome face…gosh.' Yeah, that's was my cue to give her a weird look that told her she was crazy, "What'd you say?"

Her eyes widened and she blushed furiously, her mouth agape, "Oh _crap!_ I was thinking out loud, wasn't I?" She was so adorable when she blushed.

I nodded, then shot her a glance again, "And what the heck? Who's 'hot and sexy with his hair like that'?" She squirmed, biting her lip.

"Uh…no one?" I snorted, shaking my head slightly, displaying that she was a horrible when it came to lies. She crossed her arms grumpily and muttered, "I'm not saying."

I smirked, watching a car pass us by, "Annabeth, if you don't tell me I'll be forced to pull over and—dare I say it—I'll tickle you to death."

She gasped in fake horror, "You wouldn't!" I wiggled my eyebrows and smiled creepily at her, like a crazy villain, "Oh, but I would."

She buried her head in my chest and shouted in a muffled voice, "No! Not the tickling-to-death procedure! Nooooo!"

I laughed, "Indeed! It is the worst torturement known to Annabeth-kind!" She suddenly sat up, in my lap now, and frowned.

"Torturement isn't a word," she said with bewilderment.

I tried to see around her so I wouldn't crash, "Well, I just made it up—get out of my way, Annabeth! I need to see where I'm going!" She snickered and slid out from under my arm, still in a light mood. She buckled herself in and smiled out the window.

"The trees are so beautiful here." True enough, there were an endless amount of trees on either side of the road, and they had golden leaves, and red leaves that glowed a flaming color that took your breath away when the sun shone through them.

I smiled at her, "That's one of the reason's why I love autumn." She met my gaze with a tempting pink flushing her cheeks. I winked at her, then switched my focus back on the road.

It was silent for the next half an hour, mostly because Annabeth was reading. Believe me, you do _not_ want to disturb her when she's reading; I still have bruises from that experience. I heard her sigh solemnly and glanced over to see her gazing sorrowfully at her hands. When I asked what was wrong, she bit her lip as she looked up.

"I…" I frowned at her hesitation, but otherwise didn't tear my eyes from the road's curves. "I miss Sally."

I gripped the wheel hard and glared at the road, "There's a Jack in the Box right here, should we get something to eat?"

"Percy—"

"And there's gas station just up ahead, I'm gonna stop there," I said bluntly, turning to the right, then parked the car next to one of those gas…thingies. Before Annabeth could say anything, I got out and, well, you know, refueled and everything. I turned to Annabeth and pointed to the little store, questioning if she wanted anything with my eyes.

She frowned, but nodded, and made a movement, as if she were drinking something. I nodded back, then went inside. I knew that she just wanted a vitamin water, preferably the pink 'power-c' one. I got myself the yellow 'energy' one too, and as I set it on the counter and got out money to pay for it, I frowned, a sudden thought occurring to me.

Gabe could be looking for us out there. He's not just going to shrug it off and say, 'ah well, better luck next time.' No, he's probably holding a mighty big grudge against me for doing that to him. Crap, we've gotta get out of here.

I swallowed back my sudden epiphany and asked the clerk, "Excuse me, but could you tell me where the nearest airport is?"

The clerk—she must've been about my age—nodded, scanning our drinks, "I could." I waited, but she didn't say anything.

Slightly annoyed, I raised an eyebrow at her, "Will you tell me where it is?"

"I will," she answered, typing something into the computer, then held out her hand for the money. I gave it to her and frowned. She rolled her eyes, smiling, "You asked if I could and if I will, you didn't directly ask me where it was."

I ran my fingers through my hair, and raised an eyebrow, "Did you just say what I think you said? Because you _did_ just steal that saying from Eragon, right?"

The teen just flashed me a grin, "Yep." Unable to resist, I chuckled and smiled back.

"Fine, where is the nearest airport?"

"Olympic Regional Airport—'bout forty minutes from here, if there isn't any traffic stopping you," She handed back the drinks. I smiled politely, about to leave, when she asked, "I haven't seen you around here. This is a small town, and the same people come everyday. But you're unfamiliar…and why are you like, the same age as me? I saw you come in that large Ford over there with that girl and—" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, crossing her thin arms. "You're running away." Stupid little...

I winced, looking away, "Uh…better get going—"

"If you don't tell me, I'll report you to the police." I stared at her incredulously.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," she confirmed, starting to put her wavy red hair in a bun.

I snorted, "What's it to you? I mean—"

She picked up the phone, glaring slightly at me. I groaned, fabulous. I leaned close and beckoned her closer. She leaned forward eagerly, her wide green eyes filled with curiosity.

"You know how you see those movies where…this crazy maniac kidnaps some kids, and he beats them up, then they finally escape—blah, blah, blah, etcetera?" She bobbed her head once. I glanced around to see if anyone was near, then whispered, "Me and that girl in the truck," I nodded to Annabeth, who was staring down at something in her lap, "we just ran away from somebody like that, and it just occurred to me that he's probably holding a major grudge against me…probably because I stabbed him in the—" I broke off when her eyes widened even more. "Never mind. Just…I swear, if you tell _anyone_ about this…" I trailed off threateningly.

She stuck out her hand as we straightened, "Your secret's safe with me, bud—"

"Don't call me that."

"—I promise. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare, nice to meet you." I gave her a weird look, but shook her hand.

"I'm…" I hesitated warily, wondering if I should lie about my name. I decided it was necessary. "I'm…Alex. Alex Truth." I smirked at the last part.

She rolled her eyes, "The 'truth and dare' joke. Hardy-har-har. I'm telling you, it never get's old. But…you hesitated. Tell me your real name."

I glared at her, "I don't give out personal information to nosy teenager girls."

"I think running away from some creeper is personal enough, don't you think?" I snorted. This girl was getting on my nerves, but I couldn't help but to smile.

"My middle name's Alexander, so yeah, Alex isn't exactly the total lie, Rachel," I lied smoothly. "Now, until we meet again—which I highly doubt—you are to pretend this never happened, cool?" I said it casually, but I'm pretty sure she heard the threat in my voice.

She smirked, "Cool…Alex. Maybe fate will cross our paths."

"No offense, but I really hope not, for your sake," then I glanced around and exited. I went up to the window of the car and Annabeth rolled it down, smiling teasingly at me.

"Took you long enough, Seaweed Brain," she said in a playful tone. I gave her the drink and ruffled my hair.

"We can stay at Mt. Rainier for a few days, but we _have_ to leave Washington. You and I both know for a fact that Gabe isn't going to just give up on us. Especially since I gave him the biggest scar ever," I said the last part with a smirk. Annabeth smiled, but then her eyes flickered for just a second towards the store, and she frowned.

"Who's that girl?" I went around the other side, got in and sighed.

"A nosy teenager, that's for sure. She kept pressing me about where I was going, and if I was running away with you." She glared at her hands.

"And?"

"I admitted that we were running from a complete psycho, and she told me her name's Rachel Elizabeth Dare—long name. I lied about mine and told her my name was Alex, threatened her about telling anyone, and got the heck out of there." Annabeth took a sip, then sighed.

"Seaweed Brain, she could call the cops on us, stupid!"

I shrugged, "We'll be out of here by the time there's signs about us. I've been thinking about...mm…Arizona?"

Annabeth slowly smiled, "You mean…"

I grinned at her, "Yep, we're going to the Grand Canyon after we leave Mt. Rainier, Wise Girl."

She put her head on my shoulder, jumping a little in excitement, "Then what're we waiting for? Let's go!" I smiled, but then we both froze when we saw Rachel staring at us through the window, looking curious. I did the 'I'm watching you' thing with my two fingers and she nodded, holding her hands up in surrender innocently.

I smiled, she halfheartedly smiled back like the strange teen she was, and I started the car, asking Annabeth for directions.

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**Yeah, I was seriously surprised when I found out that 'torturement' wasn't a word. :( Anywho, I just wanted to remind people that I set up a poll on my profile about whether I should make Annabeth and Percy mortal or demigod. I seriously have no idea of what to do, so I'm just skirting around it until I get enough people vote on the poll.**

**Thanks y'all! (haha, i luv my vocab)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I...am so proud of myself! I did this in like, half an hour-yes! So..yeah, sorry if it's a little crappy, peeps.**

**larkgrace: yep, ya definitely have got to luv it. And yeah, i tried to get the personality of a nosy-yet-so-right teenager.**

**filmyfurry: yeah, but i can't take all credit though. I won't say why. Oh, and they were singing to Living On A Prayer. In this chapter, it's Forget You by Cee-Lo Green.**

**The Daughter of the Greek Gods: thanx for the suggestion, I'll have to remember that for later chapters. :)**

**WolvescatsandPJO: WAFFLEGIRLISAWESOME432!**

**Dark Phantom 96: Sorry bud, but I think I'll be doing demigods, since everybody wants that. :/**

**IamWafflesHearMeRAWR: hmmm...nah, I'll make them demigods, but thanx anyway. :)**

**Mojo8096: Yay! California Gurls! *flinches when reminded of song and shudders*ugh, never mind. So far, your the second person to want mortals, be proud of it! lol, jk jk.**

**Athena Forever: Hey! I'm American and I'm not stupid! *mom gives me weird look that says i'm anything but normal* lol, yeah, i've used it too.**

**Hannah Cha: 1, I know, but yeah, whatev. 2, yes, i think there is also an excuse, and i totally agree. 3, Well excuse me if I didn't know that, geez, I'll try to make them demigods for you. 4, I have no idea if there are that much...probably not. :) 5, okee dokee, hold yer horses, demigods it is. 6, ARGH I DID JINX IT! NOOO! Now that you mention it, it is kind of creeper-ish to do fluffy moments...7, you just made me fall out of my chair for laughing so hard; was it really that awkward? I try not to read over it so I won't be scarred like other people. 8, I KNOW! I FEEL SO ASHAMED OF COPYRIGHTING THAT FROM ERAGON! Seriously! You made me feel so guilty that I changed it so my guilt would be lessened!...It didn't work...9, science teacher? Well, I'm just going to ignore that inside joke so I won't fry my own brain trying to figure it out. ;)**

**JayJay-Lynn: YAY! One more person who luvs my story! (Yes!)**

**Okay, since I have spent no well-thought time on this chapter, you don't have to enjoy, but my cat will force you to review! *Moo!* Oh...sorry, not my cat, my dog. *Moo!* Uh...sheep? *MOO!* ...Chicken? I give up. *MOO!***

**oh! wait! I got it! You're a lamp!**

* * *

Yeah, I'm sorry, I can't afford a Ferrari. But that don't mean I can't getcha there. I pity the foo-ool that falls in love you.

_(oh sh—she's a gold digger, just thought you should know—_

"Oh my gosh, Annabeth! Cover your eyes it's a bad word!" I covered Annabeth's ears and she blinked, surprised, then glared and whacked my hands away.

"Seaweed Brain! You're one to talk! What are you? Like, three?" I scoffed at that and leaned back against the pillows, taking out my phone. "What're you doing, Percy?"

I took a picture of her; hair messy as a haystack—I'm not exaggerating—bags under her eyes, in my sweatshirt and her sweatpants, eating pancakes with a huge bottle of soda next to her. That is just priceless. I smirked, comparing the picture with her, "Took a picture of you. This could make some serious blackmail someday."

Next thing I know, a battle cry escapes Annabeth's lips and she pounced onto me, trying to take the phone, "Give it up!"

"No!" I pressed the base of her thumb down, making her let go, but she immediately grabbed for it again.

"I said hand it over, Kelp Face!"

"No way, Owl Eyes! This is priceless blackmail!"

"If you value that stupid pretty face of yours, you'll give me that friggin' phone!"

"No! If you value your hair and don't want me to cut it off at night, you'll let me keep that picture and deal with it!"

"You'll be dead before you even look at my hair, Fish Eyes!" I stopped and stared at her. Fish Eyes? Wow, that's new. Annabeth put her foot against my chest and tried pulling the phone out of my hands, but ha! Epic fail!

I flicked her forehead hard and she blinked, stumbling back with a frown. I pushed her off of me and snickered, pocketing the phone, "Nice try, Feather Face."

I turned back to her after I stood up, and she got up too, glaring at me murderously, "Oh it's on, Skin Scales."

"Skin Scales? Really? The best you could do was—Let go of the phone!" I pushed against her with my shoulder, but she dodged under my arm and kicked my injured arm. "OW! What the heck! That's cheating!"

"Says who? You got yourself injured; all I'm doing is taking advantage of your stupidity, Seaweed Brain." I gripped her wrist hard and pulled her into a headlock. "Seaweed Brain! You can't headlock a girl!"

I laughed, taking the phone and swiftly letting her go, pushing her onto the bed, "Says who?" I shut off my phone, then flopped down beside the fuming girl. "How about this: I'll take you skiing or snowboarding in a couple of hours to make it up to you."

She grumbled for a minute or two, then muttered, "Fine. I'll go take a shower." I watched her go, feeling extremely smug and proud of myself.

I knew how to snowboard—don't ask—and heck, I am going to make this like hell for her.

* * *

"You ready, Annabeth?"

"You took me all the way up here to snowboard, and there's basically no way out except for going down the mountain, and you ask me if I'm ready?"

"…Is that a trick question? Because I don't get it." She scoffed, rubbing her gloved hands together for warmth.

"Of _course_ you don't. I shouldn't have expected a Seaweed Brain to understand a simple question like that. Yes I'm ready, so hurry up before I change my mind." I shrugged, mentally grinning, and said, "We both skateboard, right?"

"No, really?" She said sarcastically. I ignored it, "Well, this is sort of like that, except the ground you're 'skating' on is a lot easier to trip over. I know you'll get used to it after awhile. C'mon, just hold my hand and we'll go down slowly."

Grumbling to herself, she grabbed my hand, and I pulled her down, slowly at first, holding her straight. She fell a few times—and I snuck a few pictures of her face; hilarious!—but she got used to that after…mm…give or take twenty minutes. Maybe thirty.

She had gained a nice, steady speed and after a couple of minutes, I let go of her hand and quickened, crouching down a little. Annabeth's eyes sparkled with determination as she bended her knees too. And, as I expected her to, she crouched down too much, sending her flying down the mountain.

"I thought you said it was like a skate boooooard," She yelled over her shoulder. I bust up laughing when I saw her tumble down into the snow. I know, I'm such a bad friend, huh? Calmly, I curved around like a snake as I cruised down to her fallen figure, then stopped and offered her my hand.

She accepted it, cursing me under her breath, and I pulled her up with discomfort. "I thought you said I would get used to it."

"After _awhile_. I never said _when_ you would get used to it," I claimed with a grin. She hit me upside the head.

"Stupid Seaweed Brain. This time, could you search for that little piece of goodness in your heart and _help me _this time!" Her voice had risen to a shout at the last part. I laughed and held her upper arm, tugging her along gently, "Yeah, I guess I _should_ spare you the bruises and let you have a good time." She scoffed, but didn't reply.

I had a feeling she was cussing at me in her mind.

We took pictures with my phone, showing us laughing, some had us both falling with shocked expressions, and others had us getting pushed by fellow skiers. But of course, I couldn't help but make Annabeth fall again, now could I?

She brushed off the snow and glared at me, "I thought you would cut me some slack." I shrugged innocently, smiling.

"I said I _should_ spare you of bruises, I never said I would." Her eyes flashed dangerously and she kicked my inner knee, making me fall. She snickered, and I just groaned, getting up.

* * *

We had gotten back to the little 'resort' or whatever, and I'd just gotten out of the shower. Annabeth went in right after me. I got a water bottle and sat down on the couch, turning the TV on and scanning through the channels.

Annabeth screamed—like, the bloody-murder-sends-chills-up-your-spine kind—and after a few scary seconds, she came out of the bathroom, clutching a towel around her.

She glared at me, "You gave me so many bruises it's not even funny, Fish Face." I snickered, seeing a couple on her shins, "No, it is _definitely_ funny." Forgetting completely about the awkward fact that she was in a _towel,_ she lunged at me again, yelling, and—believe it or not—tried to twist my arm behind my back. Epic failure. I spun her around and pinned her down on the couch, her cheek pressed against the cushion. She growled, rolled over and tried kicking me off the couch. I got off and held her arms above her head, "Geez, violent much nowadays, Annabeth?"

She got me in the chest with her foot, knocking the wind out of me, and I winced, falling back. She got on top of me—embarrassingly, it was kind of hard _not_ to notice that the towel slipping off of her—with her knees on both sides of my hips and pointed at me triumphantly, "Ha! You just got served by a girl!"

Then some employee came in, calling in a bored voice, "Room service." Then he saw us, and with Annabeth blushing and clutching the towel around her body, and with us breathless from fighting, and sighed, turning around, "Continue whatever it was you were doing."

He left, muttering, "Stupid teenagers. They won't be laughing when she gets pregnant." We just stared after him, me trying not to laugh, and Annabeth squeaking out little incoherent words like, "But-he-I-wha-_pregnant?_!"

That one made me bust out laughing, which was kind of hard since she was on top of me, and she had shifted so that she was sitting on me—argh, too heavy!—and whatnot. Annabeth, turning crimson, scrambled up and stumbled into the bathroom, leaving me with our cart of donuts we had ordered. Yes! Then she came back, grabbed two donuts and a napkin, and went back in.

Darn. She took my favorite chocolate sprinkled one…


	7. Chapter 7

**Whew! I did this one as fast as I could (not allowed on the comput' until homework's done and my parents are gone) so yeah, sorry for all crappiness!**

**Apollo 11o: Yeah, I like Annabeth's POV better too...Probably cuz I'm a girl. :) And darn proud of it.**

**Riley Coyote: Yep, I try my best. Oh, romance comes later as always. And thanx! Hopefully I'm awesome too!**

**filmyfurry: Yeah, they're so cute...Yup! Demigods! At the end of this chapter- ...No, I think I'll just have you see for yourself. xD**

**AngelandAnime: I try my best at this story, and I guess I'm doing pretty good!**

**Mojo8096: Argh! That song is haunting me now! XP Can't get it out of my head!**

**IamWafflesHearMeRAWR: Aw, thanks! You replaced that horrible California Gurls song with that one! Finally, it's gone...**

**JayJay-Lynn: Oh yea, very mean. Bad Percy... In chapter 8, I'll probably have Annabeth 'accidently' kick him in the face or something. And yup, more Percabeth, coming right up!**

**Um...there's another reviewer that has a lot of numbers as the pen name...Argh, I can't put them down, but thanks peep! It's nice to know you think it's astonishing and different! :D**

**C-Nuggets N.L: I'm trying to update ASAP! I just...sorry, but I know I speak for all teenagers and tweens out there when I say I fell asleep. :P Sorry...**

**the reviewer who has a lot of #s in the pen name again: Not soon, but waay later. :) I'm evil like that.**

**BeautyandtheBeast101575: No, I'm not going to be skipping it very often, only like...once or twice. But other than that, no, it's going to be continuously going day by day.**

**Heartofthesea: SORRY FOR MAKING YOU WAIT FORVER! DX I'm trying! Waaaah-no, I won't do that, don't worry. ;)**

**Hannah Cha: Your welcome, peep. And-wait...blue? OH NO! NOT THE BLUE SCREEN! And yes, it is indeed very cold blooded. (not! in next chapter she gets revenge) And...Millie the macaw, huh? Weird...And...nay, nay: Seddie.**

**Well, this sure takes up lots of space... ENJOY!**

* * *

It was a perfect day, and Percy and I were phone shopping. Yup. We were indeed shopping for phones. At Target, too, and there was a mall nearby. See, yesterday—the day we left that little hotel thingy at Mt. Rainier—Percy had been showing off to me how 'incredibly awesome and absolutely marvelous' his phone was. Well, long story short; I broke it.

And no, I am not regretting that _one bit_. It was fun to snatch the phone from his hands and slam it against the dashboard of the car. Repeatedly. And it was hilarious to see his face after I calmly handed the phone back to him and continued searching for any articles in the newspaper about Percy and me.

His expression was exactly like this: OxO

Well…maybe not with the 'x' and stuff, but…still, you get it; IT WAS HILARIOUS!

Of course, my plan backfired on me, and I woke up this morning with a smashed up phone in my hand. Like, literally with all the wires hanging out and everything. And there was a little note that said, "Oh, sorry Annie. I _accidently_ broke your phone because I _accidently_ hit it multiple times with a hammer. And drove over it. Accidently." Yeah…that explained the tire marks.

Back to the now, farewell to the past, and…um…that's the best I could do. I can't really think of anything for the future. Hmm…

"Okay Annie…should I get the Droid X, or the Droid Incredible? Or the Motorola DROID 2? Or maybe the Motorola DROID PRO—"

"What's with all the 'droids'?" I interrupted, still pondering over what there is to say about the future. Ooh: ponder—good word.

Percy scratched his chin, analyzing the other phones. Hey! Analyzing—another good one. "Well…maybe the Samsung Fascinate or the Blackberry Storm2? Whoa, wait…there's the Pantech Crux here too. Oh! You should get the LG Vortex, violet colored one—"

I cut him off again, "Percy, why are those all the, like, expensive touch screen ones?" Oh wait, I got it! Back to the now, farewell to the past, and let's egg on the futu—no…that's weird. 'Egg on?' Ew.

A mischievous smirk grew on that handsome face of his—cue swoon—and he took out his wallet, which had so many paper bills in it that some were sticking out, "Well, we can't just keep so much of Gabe's money with us, now can we?"

As the thought processed in my mind, I smiled back slyly, "Of course not, Perce. We can't have so much money burning holes in our pockets. Did you steal his wallet?" He nudged me with his shoulder and whispered, "Gabe should know better than to leave his money on his bed."

I jumped, sputtering out, "Y-you went in his room? How can you be so brave?" Percy shoved at least three hundred bucks into my jacket pocket and winked, "And he shouldn't have let me handle his bank account either."

I laughed, closing my fingers around the thick wad, "I can't believe he was so stupid and careless about that, especially with _you_." Percy shrugged, starting to walk towards yet another phone, "All that beer probably made him go haywire, huh? Well, meet me back here in two hours, 'kay Wise Girl?"

I smiled at him, stuffing my money into my pocket, "Mhmkay. Be back soon, Seaweed Brain." I playfully hit him upside the head and headed towards the teen's clothing section. Oh, oh, oh! I got it this time! Back to the now, farewell to the past, and let's encourage the future's warm embrace. Bam! Beat that!

Man I should be a poet…

Like I promised, I went back to the electronics section in Target after my wonderful shopping spree, and I saw Percy glide over with a shopping cart, riding it. Not like, literally, but you know that metal bar thing where you slide something like a bunch of water bottles under the cart? Yeah, he had the toe part of his shoe on that, and…well, if you're not as stupid as Seaweed Brain, you'll figure it out. He flashed me a smile and took all the bags I had from me, tossing it into the cart with his own.

"So, what phone do you want?" He asked, leading the cart over to the phones. I walked beside the cart and shrugged.

"I don't know…but what with the plan and everything, don't we need a computer to set that up?" Percy thought about it as he picked out his choice. After reading the details about it, he put it in the cart and met my gaze.

"Hmm…maybe we could…uh…bribe the worker?" I snorted and leaned against the cart holding out my hand expectantly. Leave it to Percy to think of something like that.

"Sure Kelp Head, go ahead," my voice was just overflowing with sarcasm that I had reserved just for him. He should be feeling special for that. Percy put the phone he had suggested earlier for me into my hand, the violet LG Vortex, and I glanced at it for a second before letting it join the other purchases in our cart.

"Are we going to be phone-less or can we buy a laptop too?" I grumbled, scowling at my feet.

"You need help with those phones?" Percy grabbed my hand and I looked up, then with horror, at the girl in front of us.

Stupid redheaded peep…

Percy cleared his throat, looking disapprovingly at her, "I thought you were in a small town, Dare." Dare…so familiar. She blushed.

"Yeah…I actually just work there to blend in. I'm…from a rich family," she admitted sheepishly. Percy's grip tightened on my hand, not like I minded holding hands with him or anything. No, not at all, just the opposite, really…

"_Dare_," I repeated, glaring at her. "Dare Enterprises?" She shuffled awkwardly. "The same Dare family that ruins beautiful forests to sell it for _malls?"_ I spat the last word. Percy glowered slightly, looking away.

Little Ms. Riding Hood frowned, looking annoyed, "I hate what my dad does, believe me, I do. I want to do something that'll actually _help_ this stupid, freakin' retarded world, not something that destroys it. So…after meeting…whatever-your-name-is over there," She gestured to Percy, who snickered, "I thought maybe I could help you guys somehow. So…like my other question, do you need help with those phones?"

I met Percy's gaze, and scowled slightly. No way am I going to let Little Ms. Wannabe help us. Percy gripped my hand even tighter—ouch—and said to Red-head, "Give us a moment?"

Her shoulders stooped helplessly, but she nodded. Percy dragged me to right in front of the wall of TVs so that our words would be drowned out and said quietly, "Though I think it's nice of her to offer—" I scoffed. "—I know you agree with this too; it's weird that she knows where we were."

"And she offered when I haven't met her, and she hardly knows you. She doesn't even know your real name!" I exclaimed, then blushed and lowered my voice when an employee gave us a weird look. "Why should we trust her? Plus, she's the daughter of tha-that…" I shivered.

Percy stuffed his hands in his sweatshirt's pockets and gave me those puppy dog eyes that he just _knew _I couldn't resist, "Annabeth, we can't survive on this money forever, you and I both know that."

I glared at him, though it was hard, "We're doing plenty fine right now, Percy! We don't need any of _her_ help either. We could just…get a job when we need to...work at some stupid place like Dell Taco or In-n-Out."

"Hey! In-n-Out has good food!" I rolled my eyes at him, fighting a smile. "Oh…do I see a smile? Hmm?" I shook my head stubbornly. Percy winked really slowly at me, making it look hilarious, "Are ya sure? Because I think—oh! Is that a laugh? Look me in the eye and tell me that wasn't a laugh."

I bust up laughing and Percy hugged me, "Come on, Wise Girl. We can test her later…or rather, _you_ can, smart one." I nodded and we walked back to Rachel, who was reading the plans for our phones. She turned to us, put her wavy red hair into a sloppy bun and waited.

Percy nudged me, "The little know-it-all and I need to know why. I mean, we're doing great right now." I glowered him for the 'little know-it-all' comment.

Ms. Nosy-Pants bit her lip, "Yeah…see, I wish I could tell you the other half of the reason, but…later. I promise. I just…I can't tell you until we…are _way_ far from here. Like, out-of-state kind of far."

"_We?_" Percy and I questioned.

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to be with you in that truck. But nearby. Maybe…a couple of miles or so? I don't know. But the point is…to fully help you, you guys have to get to New York."

Percy blinked, "Um…okay. Is there any particular reason _why?_" I nodded in agreement, staring down the little green-eyed freak.

She suspiciously watched a worker who was glancing at us every few seconds, "Later. Right now, I have a feeling that employee is going to call security if you don't hurry up."

I rolled my eyes, "Well isn't that just peachy. What's your name?" I'm running out of mental insults here, so it would help if I knew her name.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, yours?" I just scowled at her. Percy nudged me gently, "We're gonna have to trust her, Anne." I glared at him for a second before turning back to R.E.D.

"Annabeth…" I waited until the same worker passed by and was out of hearing, then continued, "Chase. Annabeth Chase."

Percy smirked at her, "Though it's nice having a fake name, Percy Jackson." Rachel nodded.

"Cool. Now, can we get out of here so we can talk?" I shrugged, and us three took our cart to the front of the store, where those cashier peeps were. After that, we started walking out, holding the bags, and I heard Rachel say something really weird.

"Percy, Annabeth...Percabeth," she muttered, smiling slightly and shaking her head. "Selena always was the clever one."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I took so long: I wasn't sure if I liked how this chapter went, but I just totally came up with a slight twist in the plot I have in store for you, so it's all good. Lemme just say this: chapter 9 is gonna be INTENSE!**

**alexandriarulzforeva: Crap, sorry no, it isn't. I've already decided that they're gonna be demigods. :/ Thanx, I'm actually kind of in love with it too! XD**

**Riley Coyote: I dunno how you went from 'phone shopping' to 'sexting,' but wow, cyber crush? Weird...And yes! I'm quite the rambler myself, actually! *proud grin***

**filmyfurry: Wow, I'm a total epic fail. *face palms* I don't even remember the characters names. And I know, right? They seem like they would totally do that to each other! XD lol**

**candy0304: Well jeez-a-la-weez! Ruin the whole plot, will ya! (haha, just kidd-but seriously.) And uh...no, I mean yes, but like, no. Not exactly. Argh! It's complicated...**

**Heartofthesea: Yep, yep, and uh...yep. **HINT HINT! -** I'm gonna mke up a prophecy for them, prob'ly have to do two stories so there doesn't end up to be like, a bijillion chapters. Because, trust me, what with where this story is going, this could take awhile..**

**C-Nuggets N.L: Argh! I can never get it right..Yup! Percabeth, percabeth, percabeth. Really random, but I just slapped my sister's hand against the wall by us, and she slapped my shoulder WAY harder! I didn't even slap her hard, she pushed her own hand! My shoulder burns...Don't worry, I'll hav more Percabeth comin' along. :)**

**Jjoksterinthehouse: Don't worry, I'd be impatient to. I haven't updated in FORVER! (so a certain person tells me. *cough cough BlueIceCreamWithCherriesOnTop, cough cough*)**

**Iceacream: Okay, okay, I'll try! ;D Haha, and no, you don't sound like a child. *rolls eyes* Yeah, as if. I'm a child even when I'm more mature than I've ever been.**

**Hannah Cha: Reviewers? Nah, not really..Well, maybe, but...And remind you of what you said? Well, if you REALLY want me to... *smirk***

**Dark Phantom 96: Psh, of course! Can't leave out our beloved Silena (I spelled it right! :D) out, now can we?**

**clker: Well that's rather flattering! Sorry I've disappointed you so much. :(**

**Heartofthesea: Oh dear lord, DON'T do that! I LITERALLY screamed and almost fell off the chair when I saw that review!**

**Heartofthesea (again): Nah, it's not annoying, but that last review kinda freaked me out...updating? Well, uh, y'know... *embarassed smile***

**Bobby Clair Pin: Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm always getting names wrong.. '-_- **

**ytytyiit: Don't you just love how I reply to the shortest review ever? Thank you, I love my story too, even if PJO belongs to Rick Riodan (Darn!).**

**BlueIceCreamWithCherriesOnTop: Thanks! Oh, and no, not yet, not for awhile...Yes, actually, she is leading them here. **HINT HINT! -** Or at least, she's TRYING to, anyways...**

**Regina de Morte: Thank you! XD And sorry to everyone out there reading this, I just wasn't sure about this chap before, as I said at the top, but it's all good now. :)**

**BlueIceCreamWithCherriesOnTop (again): Yay! Good for me! XD (i don't think I've mentioned it before, but your pen name makes me hungry...*drool*)**

**max artemis potter: half bloods, but it's not like THEY know that yet... *evil smirk***

**BlueIceCreamWithCherriesOnTop (and again): I'M SORRY! DX I'M TRYING! *sobs onto keyboard***

**BlueIceCreamWithCherriesOnTop _(and_ again)_:_ My gosh! Okay, okay! Jeez! I'm updating! My god! I got it, I'm getting off my lazy arse!**

**Well, thanks to my annoying reviews (cough cough, BlueIceCreamWithCherriesOnTop, cough cough) I'm updating!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Percy held onto my upper arm firmly as we stood in line at the little café. I wish he wouldn't do that—I liked it _way_ better when he was holding my hand and tracing soothing circles onto the back of my hand. Rachel—Percy made me promise I'd be polite to her, even in my thoughts—was buying us some sort of smoothie and pastries.

She turned to ask what we wanted, and Percy answered without even asking me, "Two strawberry banana smoothies, 16 oz., a blueberry muffin, and a cinnamon coffee cake."

I blushed: he knew I loved blueberry muffins. It sounds weird, considering how long we've known each other (hacking cough cough, nine and a half years, hacking cough cough), but I seriously didn't expect him to know the little things about me.

Percy caught the look on my face and smirked ever so slightly, still looking grim about accepting help from a total stranger, aka Rachel, "What, after you repeatedly tell me how much you loved blueberry muffins and strawberry banana smoothies, you thought that _wouldn't_ get imprinted into my brain?"

I just rolled my eyes at him and looked away, him still gripping my arm as though I were a child who was bound to run off and he was the parent, responsible for my every action.

He always did act very protective of me, which I personally thought was sweet of him. At Target, some worker—a _worker_—had asked me if I was finding things okay and Percy put his arm protectively around my shoulders and snapped, "Yeah, real peachy, bud. Go bother someone else," then steered me out of the clothing department.

Of course, I don't mind a bit, I just snicker at Percy and ask him if that guy was planning to steal from me. "Well…you never know…he could have wanted to!" He'd answered, looking defiant.

He's so cute…

We sat down in an isolated corner, Rachel across from us, and Percy cleared his throat politely, "So. Where do you want us to go?"

She sipped at her own smoothie and replied in a steady voice, ignoring me glowering at her, which, might I add, took a whole lot of endurance, "New York."

"Where _exactly?_"

"Manhattan, NY, New York."

Percy set his jaw, "Why? It's, like, who knows how far away from here. I mean, we're in Washington right now."

She coughed, "Whoa, that's cold." But I had a feeling it had nothing to do with the smoothie. I looked at Percy, but he just looked confused. Ugh, boys. They're so clueless sometimes.

Rachel, rubbed her neck, looking anxiously towards the entrance doors of the café, "Um…it's a long story, but…basically to sum it up, you'll uh…you'll be a lot happier, not to mention safer, there. I…see, in New York, there are more people who are what you are."

"Orphans and abused?" Percy and I blurted at the same time, most likely giving her the same bemused, doubtful looks.

She bit her lip, watching us sympathetically. Yeah right…she has no idea what we've gone through. "Well…no…but wait," she said quickly when we shook our heads and looked away in disbelief, exasperated, "there probably are, but it's not something I'm going to ask anyone about. I mean, would you want to be asked that?"

I rolled my eyes, "Oh yeah, recalling all the times I've been beaten sounds just _swell_." Percy elbowed me in the ribs hard, making me wince.

"What do you mean 'like us,' Rachel?" Gosh, Percy always was the polite one (except to Gabe and his freak shows).

She twirled her wavy red hair around her finger nervously, biting her lip, "Well, for now, all I'm saying is that Percy, your father isn't dead, and same goes to you about your mom, Annabeth."

"Gotta go," I blurted, getting up from the table abruptly and making a beeline for the bathroom.

* * *

I bit my lip, glancing at Rachel. She raised an eyebrow at me, gesturing to Annabeth, and I sighed, "We both don't…" I tried to think of an innocent word, "…_like_… to talk about our…parents. Annabeth though…well, you saw her: very touchy, and she hates to talk about her parents, whether it's her father, mother, or step-mother, she refuses to."

"Of course…_you_ can speak about it with her?" Rachel questioned.

I nodded, "Of course. We can tell each other anything. We're basically each others family, since we're orphans."

"You two aren't orphans, like I said before."

"Yes," I retorted, gritting my teeth and staring warningly at her. "We are. The only family we actually knew and loved was my mother and her father and step-mother. The definition of family is not of blood, but who you love and who loves you back. And we've both had our families torn from each other."

Rachel sipped her smoothie, frowning slightly, and swallowed, "Your father _does_ love you, Percy."

Now I glared at her, "Whoever my father is, maybe, but I don't recall me saying that I ever loved him."

She glanced at the ceiling nervously for a second (weird), but I just continued, "And Annabeth would say the same about her mother." I slapped the table with my palm, "Bam, just like that, plain and simple, end of discussion."

Annabeth came out of the bathroom, biting her lip, and I muttered to Rachel, "Speaking of which…"

She sat next to me again and looked me right in the eye. I knew that look; it was the look that said she was about to break down and she needed comforting and she needed it now. I put my arm around her shoulders and mumbled into her ear so that only she could hear me, "It's okay, Annie."

She didn't reply, just leaned into me with her head on my shoulder as she looked down at her smoothie, stirring it with the straw, trying to hide what she was feeling beneath the defiance she showed in her expression.

But she couldn't fool me. She knew it just as well as I did.

"So…what now?" I asked Rachel, my eyes still on Annabeth, studying the golden light in each strand of her hair that the sun was reflecting off of.

Rachel seemed to think about it for a moment before asking hesitantly and apologetically, "Um…mind if I take you to my place?"

I raised an eyebrow, now looking up at her.

"The phones?" She explained. I nodded, aware of Annabeth stiffening under my arm.

"Of course, let's go."

We went out and Rachel pulled out her phone, speed dialed someone, but she didn't even speak to the person, just held it for a few seconds, then shut the phone. I had a feeling she called the person so many times that that's all she had to do for...well, whatever she was doing. She smiled at us and said, "George, my limo driver, is picking us up."

"A chauffeur?" Annabeth asked.

Rachel tilted her head, "Is that what they're called? Jeez, you'd expect me to know, but I can't tell black from white."

Annabeth smiled and Rachel faced me, "Didn't you just leave your drink?"

"What?" I said. I spun around, "Aw man, I really liked that smoothie!" I ran inside, trying to remember where we sat. Please still be there, please still be there, please still be there...

* * *

I watched Percy go, then awkwardly shifted my weight to my other foot, smiling halfheartedly at Rachel.

She smiled back and said, "You and Percy I pretty close, huh?"

I blushed, "Um…well, yeah, I mean…he helped me through everything…and I literally mean everything. We kind of depend on each other to be there when we need one another."

She tilted her head curiously, "So…you're like family?"

"Yeah," I lied smoothly, rubbing my arm.

Well, I _thought_ it was smooth.

She grinned, "Friends isn't enough for you?"

_You're the worst liar in the world, Wise Girl. _Only in the worst possible scenarios could I remember what Percy tells me...

I blushed harder, trying to look innocent, "Wh-what?"

"Don't try and hide it: you're in love with him, aren't you?"

I glanced back at the café, then at her, smiling sheepishly, "Can't really help it with a hottie like him." Operation: 'Get Rachel To Believe I'm NOT In Love With Percy' was a no-go.

She laughed, "Since when?"

I glanced back nervously, "Um…I'm not really sure, but once I was just thinking about him when I said 'I love him' in my head, and I tried to come up with reasons to _why _I would love him, and, well, I came up with like, a billion reasons why."

She dodged a passerby's flying hand as he talked on his Blackberry, obviously stressed out and agitated with the person he was talking to, then told me, "You have no idea how much of a couple you guys look. Like, when he holds your hand or puts his arm around you, and sometimes, I swear you guys are flirting with each other."

I widened my eyes, once again making a feeble attempt to look surprised, "I-uh, when? How?"

Rachel laughed again, "When we walked over here. You guys kept chasing each other and—"

"We were bored!"

"—how he picked you up and—don't try hiding it—you leaned into him—"

"I felt like I was going to fall, not my fault!"

"When did you feel like you were going to fall?" My head whipped around to Percy, who watched me with an amused expression as he handed me back my smoothie.

Rachel stifled a giggle behind me and said, "George is coming."

We entered the limo (people were staring, too) and I gave Percy a look that said, "If anything bad happens, it's all your fault."

He put up his hands in surrender.


	9. Chapter 9

**I am SOOO sorry for not updating sooner! D: I admit I haven't been THAT busy, but my mom keeps telling me to get off at 9 PM, and I get on at eight, and then I'm still writing other chapters for other stories I have, and then BAM! It's 9:28! Well, besides my boring life, here's the chappie you've all been waiting for, peeps!**

**C-Nuggets N.L: Yea-gasp...you're name's HERE too! Whoa, this is kind of scary...****C-Nuggets N.L (there it is!) ****C-Nuggets N.L (there it is again!) Humor? Why, thank y'all peep! Omg, when I read 'let it rain owls and horses' I fell off the chair yelling, "WHAT? THAT'S GOING TO HURT!" But then...yea...*blush* And, yes! Yes they are! I'm thinking about..mm..either the next chapter, or the one after that, but they WILL learn pretty soon.**

**********ILuveBooks99: Whoo hoo! Yet another person who likes my stories! (turns to guy holding tally chart an marks another tally) Awesome. Kiss? S-soon? Uh, oh...Um...Aw crayola...FINE! I'll see what I can do! :D**

**********The Olympian Scribe: Thank you, thank you. Ooo, I like your name...it's very offical...__************The Olympian Scribe...************Yup, what with those capitals and whatnot...**

**********************BreeTanner308: I'M SORRY! I'VE PROBABLY MADE YOU HAVE A HEART ATTACK! (SOB SOB) I'M SORRY! WAIT...IS IT JUST ME OR IS THIS ALL IN CAPS? STUPID COMPUTER!**

**********************jahfreenalam: I know, right? Ha, it's almost as if I created them and wrote about their lives huh? Oh...*fake laughs modestly* well, golly! I AM writing about them! Haha...yea, almost forgot there...And yep, Paul w-...hold it...You mean late STEP father, right?**

**********************J.F xKalieoki: BRING*pause for breath*IT*another pause for uncessary breath*OOOONNNNN! So are you saying this is good read? Cuz if you ARE, well...Thank you. If you AREN'T, well... um...idk...**

**********************meeeethegr8: Dude, I literally had to COUNT the 'e's in your pen name. I was like, whoa, wait a second, hold on, what's going on here? Then I realized there were only 4, so...Oh! Right! Here's 'longly-awaited' chapter 9! :D hope you like it.**

**********************filmyfurry: Awesome! Good to know...Yes, interesting...VERY interesting...In this chapter, in Annabeth's thoughts, she thinks Rachel's trying to steal Percy from her, but then I have a small portion of Percy's thoughts that explains what REALLY happened, so, yep.**

**********************candy0304: Hey, what d'you think of our two favorite PJO girls? Am I doing a good job?**

**********************Liberty Girl In The Sky: Yea, me too, though it WOULD be easier if they were mortals and just happen to find their parents (Athena could be Minerva and Poseidon could be..Dylan, which means 'from or of the sea,' or just Poseidon.) and BAM happily ever after...I like where I'm going with this story. Also, *HINT HINT!* What with this, I might even make sequel with Percy going on quests. *shrugs* Haven't decided yet.**

**********************Nyxchick: YEA! I UPDATED! WHOO HOO!**

**********************man artemis potter: hm...darn, to bad i updated...then I could be evil...er...Uh, yea! I could be eviler!**

**********************Riley Coyote: Haha, i know whatcha mean, happens to me ALL the time, bud. 'No gods'? I thought it said in the summary..hm..I'll have to check that...Oh! Right, cough thing, I'll do that, good suggestion. Yay! I luv Bacon and Dorritos! Yes, yes...Randomness is very humorable...Bacon? Of course! Who doesn't? Canadian Bacon, eh? Hmm...I'll have to try that sometme...Oh! But I found this superly random photo of a chocolate chip cookie (regular home made type) that had a maple cinnamon glaze over it, with a piece of Brazilian Bacon on top of that glaze and the cookie. I wonder if it tastes good...I'll put up a link on my proflie just bcuz I'm random like that later. Deja Vu? What for? Yes indeed, Rambling and Randomness are my specialty..Whoo Hoo! I got a good score! :D (i use WAY too many 'dot dot dot's nowadays.)**

**********ENJOY PEOPRRJRVJh-OW! Crap! My cat all but stepped all over my face and I can't see where I'm typing! tydhnr t (sorry, that was my cat..)**

**********ENJOY PEEPS!**

* * *

Rachel went up to several of those communication devices where you press a button and talk into the speaker, and her brow furrowed when she tried to pick one.

She groaned and turned back to us, "Crap! I forgot which one is whi—"

"What's on your arm?" I asked, still a little off put from when Percy was sitting next to Rachel in the limo and making jokes with her. I mean, it's not like I'm jealous or anything, no, of course not…

Rachel beamed at me, "Yes! Genius!" Genius? Why thank you; Percy actually tells me that too, but now that I get a second person's opin—hold on…What did I do again?

She pulled back her sleeve and we saw writing on her forearm. She read the messy scrawl (seriously, like, worse than Percy's…and that's saying something) quickly, then frowned again, muttering, "Well darn…"

She sighed, pushing her sleeve back down, "Crap. I forgot that they installed new ones today."

She randomly pressed a button and waited, still pressing. An irritated voice said, "Ms. Dare, how many times do I have to tell you that mine will always be at the far right?"

Rachel blushed and said, "Sorry, Cleo, I forgot that they installed the new ones today."

"Right…" 'Cleo' sighed, "If you need your butler, it's the first one."

Rachel shrugged and pressed it. Her butler answered, "Good afternoon, Ms. Dare, how may I help you?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Oh, psh, I dunno Max, maybe you could…hm…open the freakin' gates?"

"I will find someone to do as you say, Ms. Dare," and the butler's voice was gone.

Rachel rolled her eyes at us, "Max…he's always sucking up to me for another paycheck."

The gates opened and immediately a golf cart came up, with some buff guy in the driver seat. When he spoke, I knew it was Max, "Hello, Ms. Dare, would you like a ride?"

Rachel grumbled, already walking away, "Suck up."

We followed her, not knowing what else to do. I mean, does it look like I want to stick around with a buff butler staring at us? I looked around at the enormous mansion and the yard that was at least two football fields long and wide. Well, golly, this makes your average two story house look like a shack. A really pathetic shack, at that.

Okay, I admit it; maybe I'm a _little_ jealous that Percy laughed when Rachel stumbled over her feet in surprise as the golf cart sped past us, super fast at first, then painstakingly slowly, as though waiting for Rachel to start flapping her arms like a chicken and chasing it as she yelled, "Wait! Max, I have your next paycheck right here for being polite!"

Anyway, Percy grabbed her arm and steadied her(growl), but then what he said made me bust up laughing; "Walk much, Butterfoot?"

She looked at him weirdly as we bust up laughing like the idiots we were, until I calmed down _just_ enough to say, "I-ins-si-side j-joke," then I continued.

We kept walking, chortling about something nobody else knew, and occasionally, after we'd calm down, Percy would say vaguely to me, "So…where's my butter-graph?" And we'd go off about that again.

When we approached the huge front doors at last, R.E.D. stopped and said, "Care to explain?"

Percy snickered and said, "It was when we were eight and we were walking out of the market with all our groceries. I'd been teasing Annabeth the whole time we were in there about how her writing was really sucky, and that if she grew up famous, nobody would want to get an autograph from her if it looked like a scribble imitating a fat cow that people would mistake as a self portrait." I stuck my tongue out at him childishly, and he laughed before continuing.

"I was eating a banana and when I finished I dropped it in front of Annabeth, who was carving her name into one of those Smart Balance butter containers—we were eight, give us a break—or whatever you call those things."

I cut in here, "And so when I slipped on the banana peel, I fell on my butt, just like on the cartoons, and I accidently dropped the butter. Percy—being the jerk he's always been—didn't help me up, just kept walking and laughed at me. I got up and tried to jump onto his back as he walked by to tackle him, but my foot was in that little tub-or-whatever-it-is of butter, and it broke open as I fell flat on my face.

"When I got up, to see Percy continuing to walk—"

"I said over my shoulder to her, "Walk much, Butterfoot?"

"And when I looked down at my feet, one foot was splattered with all the butter," I concluded with a snigger.

Percy smirked at me, "Right before we got home I had turned to her and said—"

We said this part together, "'so where's my butter-graph?'"

Rachel laughed and said, half seriously, "You two had a lot of good times together."

Percy smiled, but he looked at me and we could both tell that we were thinking the same thing; if only they could have lasted longer.

_When we gave Gabe his dinner, he tasted the smoked salmon we had made and growled to me, "Where's the butter, brat?" I gulped back a whimper and told him shakily, quietly, "We don't have any."_

"_SPEAK UP, BITCH!"_

"_She said we don't have any, Gabe!" Percy shouted, pulling me by the arm behind him protectively. "They ran out by the time we got there, but we spoke with the manager and he said they'd have the next shipment by next week."_

_Percy's voice was so firm, so certain and unfaltering, the large fib sounded like the truth; I was the exact opposite. Gabe had someone go check the market after he finished his supposedly 'stale-because-of-the-absence-of-the-butter' dinner and sent us to our room. _

_In thirty minutes we were covered with black and blue bruises for lying, and Percy got a cut four inches wide on his right shoulder for trying to protect me several times during the beating. I had a broken wrist and ankle for the fun of it all and around midnight, when everyone was asleep (or totally wasted and screwing someone, in Gabe's case), Percy set the bones for me. It hurt like hell._

I blinked, returning to the present, and grimaced miserably at the memory, looking up into Percy's compelling sea green eyes. As usual, Percy understood, and he turned to a now perplexed red head, saying, "Care to lead us inside?"

She nodded, eager to shatter the tension, and led us inside. I didn't even pay attention to the high ceilings and the fancy stairs, beautiful carpets, intricate vases full of flowers and whatnot; I stared down at my feet impassively, or so I hoped.

Percy tentatively brushed his fingers against mine, wondering if I was okay. I was so surprised by this action, being taken out of my thoughts that I recoiled from his touch. Immediately I felt guilty and looked up to see Percy walking faster to catch up to Rachel. I was about to grab his hand back, but as if sensing me, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and asked Rachel in an amused voice, "Which room does the Queen live in?"

Rachel laughed, "Shut up, Percy, it's not _that_ ridiculously big."

He snorted, "Sure, Rach., whatever you say."

I frowned miserably again, crossing my arms over my chest; we've just met 'Rach.' today, yet Percy's already got his little nickname for her. Fabulous.

I watched as Percy paused and held the stem of a flower in a nearby vase gingerly, asking Rachel what type of flower it was.

I wish Percy was holding my hand right now, but he isn't, and it's all because of me.

I jealously glared at the flower as though it were its fault, until I heard Percy laugh and my head flashed up. He joked around with R.E.D. for a couple of seconds, then as Rachel started up the stairs, he said over his shoulder to me as he followed, "C'mon…she's taking us up to her room."

I pursued them from behind, thinking about how he hesitated. Other times he would throw in a little nickname and instead say, "Catch up, slowpoke, or is Anna Banana having trouble with her Butterfoot?" But he didn't, though I don't know why this bothers me so much.

He turned a little to see me and flashed me a small, reassuring smile like he's always done, and kept going. My heart fluttering, a weird, unexpected happiness filling me at this, I started to catch up.

I wanted so badly to slip my hand into his, but something made me pause. Why was that?

Then Rachel said to him, leading us down the endless hallway now, pointed at another flower, "Hey Percy, this flower's a red tulip; it stands for _undying love_." She whispered something into his ear, winked, and continued walking, leaving him rubbing his neck sheepishly, his cheeks a little flushed.

And I could've _sworn_ Rachel was moving her hips a _little_ more than necessary for walking.

I glared at the flower as I walked by it. Not even _I_ made Percy blush! And then Little Red Riding Hood comes along and BAM.

Then I realized why I'd paused back at the stairs:

I had competition now, so I'd better watch my back.

* * *

I noticed immediately when Annabeth stared down at her shoes and automatically brushed my fingers against hers. She snatched her hand back and I shrugged it off, walking a little more quickly to catch up with Rachel; Annabeth hates Gabe almost as much as I do, but she's mostly just afraid of him, though she would never admit it.

She just needs some time to cool off and accept that we're not going to see Gabe ever again, which means no more abusing.

I put my hands in my pockets, thinking about how my fingers seemed to be burning when they touched hers. I was actually a little embarrassed; what if my hands were all red? Oh worse! What if I was blushing and she noticed! Aw man...

Smirking at how big the 'house' was, I asked teasingly, "Which room does the Queen live in?"

She laughed, "Shut up, Percy, it's not _that _ridiculously big."

I snorted, "Sure, Rach., whatever you say."

Whoa, what the heck? Where did _that _come from? I sounded so stupid! 'Rach'?

I spotted this elegant looking flower and caressed it as I asked, "What type of flower is, Rachel?"

She thought about it, frowning, "Um…Crap, lemme think…uh…Gosh, I should know all of these! A friend of mine named Katie Gardner is practically obsessed with plants and whenever I visit her she tells me about a bazillion flower meanings."

I smiled at the flower, "It's very pretty."

"I know, huh?"

"Do you get bored with her when she does that?"

"I make the expression 'die of boredom' look like a fact," she concluded.

I snickered, "Does your expression look a little like this?" I gaped like a fish at her.

She laughed "No! But it's close, I'll tell you that. We're getting sidetracked; I'll take you two to my room."

I followed her and told Annabeth over my shoulder, "C'mon…she's taking us up to her room." I was about to call her a nickname, but I almost tripped over a step right there—Whoa, there I go again.

Jeez!

I looked back to her and gave her a small smile. She's probably thinking hard about something. Knowing her, she's most likely planning on escaping.

I kept going, until Rachel pointed to another flower and told me, "Hey Percy, this flower's a red tulip; it stands for _undying love_."

Then she whispered into my ear, "Maybe you should give one to Annabeth sometime." She winked and kept walking, swaying a little; she'd told me how much her shoes hurt her feet, which makes me _really_ glad I'm not a girl. Stupid shoes.

This time I blushed; she knew how much I cared—okay, fine, how much I _loved_ Annabeth, I admit it.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that Annabeth is still kept in the dark.


	10. Chapter 10

**Man...okay, i just whipped this one right up for all you patient (not) readers out there; hope you guys like it.**

**meeeethegr8: um..well, actually...i mean, i don't know...but that's a good tip; i'll definitely use that.**

**Skywriter5: Yeah..i've always loved fanfics that show Annabeth and Percy in a close relationship, but then the authors always make Annabeth a wimp. Hopefully, I don't make her seem that way. Do i? But yea, i just wanted to do something different and i though about what would make them mature faster, and get closer at the same time. Abusement came up, bcuz all Annabeth and Percy have had their most of their lives was each other, and that would definitely make them grow closer.**

**filmyfurry: Haha, yep! Annabeth always was the stubborn one. :)**

**demigod-wannabe-love: well, hey; u know what they say. Practice makes perfect! And-oh wow. O.o You really are hyper.**

**123Ctv123: well; here's the next chappie. sorry it took the whole month! :P**

**Riley Coyote: Hmm...then i guess i need some Canadian bacon! wait...wow, what the heck...that guy is like...idk. whoa, that is a good word! My favorite word is: . Yep; Mary Poppins right there. The haumn mnid aezmas me steommies..if you could read that, then you're smart. Good for you! WHOO! Awesome! 1000 character review! i love waffles (call me a carnivore, but they're bomb) and hashbrowns too. Ooo, how was the brunch? you SHOULD make 1! i would so read that! yea! 1000 characters! :D**

**C-Nuggets N.L: Lol, Annabeth's always jealous. Yep! UNDYING love! Not just love, but UNDYING love! And don't worry; Aphrofite will have her fair share of surprises. ;) o.O you just put an extremely terrifying image into my head. *moans, holding head, and hits keyboard***

**LeoV44: Thanks! Yea, well, i make myself laugh smetimes! lol. Well its an honour to make LeoV44 laugh. (i love the way i spell honour)**

**BreeTanner308: I give myself a mini heart attack whe I update. It's not fun. Oh crud! Are you okay? DX i'm sorry! i'll update sooner! *cry cry sob sob***

**JayJay-Lynn: Yea...Percy can be so adorably oblivious sometimes...i want a Seaweed Brain! *pouts* **

**Regina de Morte: Thanks! I try to, uh...keep it 'fresh.' Thank you! u can read Skywriter5's review up above (the 2nd review) and how i felt that i should do smething different. :)**

**Perserverance: Yea, unlike my other story: Goode High School. In that, she's a total slutty bitch. But i plan on making her good in the end. Lol, i guess you hate my othr story then! haha. yep, i try to keep it nice and original like this. i know! i've never seen someone do a fanfic like this, but it doesn't take much to think this up!**

**piper: i know how you feel, bud. i'm really frustrated with 1 author, how she hasn't updated since like, december. i'm glad you like this! :D**

**xxxAirplanesInTheNightSkyxxx: Like I've said to others, i wanted to try something different, something that nobody else had yet thought up. i'm REALLY glad you like it so much! :D**

**lily-vanilla1166: Lol, I'm gonna hav fun writing about what'll happen next. XD**

**Cherry Louise: really? hmm...oh crudle, sorry! DX i'll try an update soonr. 4 this, i had to get off my butt and ignoring my hand cramps...**

**Ahc Hannah: i...KNEW IT! I saw it and i was like 'hey..that looks famil-oh crayola!' i just read 'Ahc' backwards, and i was like WHOA! So yea, back 2 the subject of my incredibly awesome story (some other reviewer's words, not mine)...it IS purty hilarious, eh? Yep, stupid girl shoes...*sigh* i really don't understand how my sister can run in six inch pumps...**

**ENJOY PEEPS!**

* * *

"Mm'kay…so, do you want me to pay for the texting and calls or other—"

"No, no, no; we'll pay for that, don't worry," Percy assured her as we sat on the edge of her humungous bed.

Clothes littered the floor, even bras here and there (Percy, being a gentleman, looked up at the ceiling as if it was the most intriguing thing in the room until we sat down) and the sheets of the bed were strewn across the end of the bed, hanging off and twisted up. She had this large window that made up one wall, with three solid walls around it, not including the ceiling and floor. A large bathroom was connected to the room, and a huge wardrobe. Percy took my hand into his and I set my head onto his shoulder, forgetting about how half an hour ago I was too busy glaring to notice anything.

I sighed tiredly and closed my eyes, hearing Percy joke, "Don't fall asleep, Wise Girl. I almost broke my back last time I carried you."

"Do you _want_ to get killed?" I told him, annoyed. "I'm sure Rachel wouldn't mind getting a little blood on the carpet, right?"

Rachel laughed and Percy muttered, "Shut up, you dumb blonde."

"And when I say a little blood," I added, "I mean a lot of blood."

It was silent.

I smirked; eyes still closed, I said, "I'm glad we understand each other."

He coughed nervously and said, "Um, sorry, Annabeth. We all know you're the complete opposite of dumb."

"Yeah, yeah; that's what all Seaweed Brains say," I told him, getting comfortable.

"Right, so…" Rachel said awkwardly, amusement plainly in her voice, "Uh…yeah…"

A laugh escaped my lips and I stiffened it. "Um, so, yeah; Rachel, you said you were going to tell us why we're going to New York."

I open my eyes to see the red head nodding as she gave us our phones, "Yeah, I am. So, uh…first of all, you get to find out the whereabouts relating to your parents."

"They're dead," Percy and I said in sync, glaring at her tiredly. Couldn't this girl get a hint?

"On the contrary, Percy; your biological dad is still alive. The same goes for Annabeth's mom."

"And I would want to see her, because…" I shrugged sarcastically, "Why?"

"Um…okay…Basically, there's a camp nearby Manhattan. It's filled with kids who are just like you."

We both said, "Running away and abused?"

She rolled her eyes like she couldn't believe we were being so obtuse, "No. They all grow up either being raised by one parent or none at all. At first, they all think that their parent—whether it's the mom or the dad—left them because they hated them. But then they start to grow up and a satyr comes along to protect them and—"

"Whoa, hold on; satyr? Like, from Greek mythology?"

"As in half-man-half-goat?" I added, equally confused.

"Oh crap," she muttered. "Yeah, that's it. What d'you know about Greek myths?"

"There are gods and goddesses; the major the gods, and the minor gods. The major gods are the twelve Olympians. Greek city states like Athens chose a patron god to worship. Athens chose Athena, goddess of wisdom, hence the name Athens. The ancient Greeks prayed and burnt offerings to the god of the sea, Poseidon, before they sailed their goods to places like Crete or Mesopotamia or Egypt.

"Then there are mythical monsters like the Minotaur. Poseidon created the Minotaur by cursing a girl, Pasiphae, King Minos' wife, to fall in love with the white bull that Poseidon had sent for Minos, because Minos thought that the bull was beautiful and did not sacrifice it to Poseidon. The legend says that Pasiphae had Daedalus create a wooden cow for her to hide in and lure the bull. She had the Minotaur and nursed it in its infancy, but it grew and became ferocious. Theseus, a man of Athens, defeated the Minotaur with the help of the mortal girl, Ariadne. There are hundreds of Greek mythological monsters, all in the legends," he finished.

I looked at Percy in amazement, "Whoa. Has my smartness at last rubbed off on you?"

He smiled and put his arm around me, "Don't get used to it. I hold in my smartness for random moments like these."

I laughed, "Obviously."

Rachel had gotten up, moving towards the window, saying nervously, "Um, Perce? You _really_ shouldn't sprout off names like that."

I rolled my eyes, "Why? It's not like the Minotaur's going to suddenly pop up out of nowhere and—"

_ROOAAAARRRR!_

Percy and I looked at each other.

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! ROOOAAARRR!_

We scrambled up and ran towards the window, but Rachel pulled us back just as the window shattered into a million pieces.

Percy pushed us down onto the floor and covered us with his jacket. When the shower of cut glass ended, we all got up; I got a couple of cuts on my hands, but I ignored the stinging and faced the monster.

It was huge. Like, as in, fifteen feet or more huge. The head was a bull and it had a bull tail; the body was a man…Ew, a disgustingly buff man. I mean, Percy's pretty hot, with his perfectly tanned, muscular arms and that sexy six pack, but this guy—

_ROOOAAAARRRRR!_

Oh shiz.

Percy grabbed my upper arm and dragged me towards the window. He sat me down right by the frame of it and yelled over the monster's roars, "Stay here!"

Oh yes, because I'm so going to listen to you.

I tried getting up but he pushed me back down and gave me a determined, immovably decided look that sent the message like a flare in my head.

I'm not going anywhere.

I glared at him murderously as I curled up away from the broken glass. He nodded and jumped onto the Minotaur's arm. I watched, worried and in awe, as he pulled himself up onto the thing's shoulder. Bracing himself, Percy gripped the horns like a lifeline as the bull-man stepped back and fell onto his back, trying to get Percy off. **(Recreational part from the lightning thief.)**

Percy was ripped off of it, but it also took its horn (hehe, don't get horny). It got up—rather slowly, might I add—and charged at Percy. At the last second, he dove out of the way and at the same time drove the horn into its side.

With a mighty roar of pain, it dissolved into dust.

Yeah, golden dust.

I spotted the tree branch next to me (where the heck did that come from?) and climbed down this highly useful tree.

I ran all the way to Percy, who had started walking tiredly to me.

I hugged him fiercely and yelled right in his ear, "Why the hell do you have to be so freakin' brave?"

He recoiled and hissed, "Ouch! Don't do tha—" He stopped, apparently seeing something. "Holy…sh-cow."

"You mean holy bull, right?" I joked nervously, hoping it wasn't bad.

"I highly suggest you don't turn around, Wise Girl."

I turned anyways, and gasped when I saw this absolutely hideous old bat like lady with leathery bat like wings and razor sharp teeth. And it was flying towards us with a hiss. Oh my shiz.

He grabbed me by the wrist and we ran as fast as we could away from it, towards the gate.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," I muttered as we ran, looking around for any ways to distract it. I mean, c'mon, I'm smart. I always have a back up plan. I'm always prepared for any and every scenario Percy and I are in.

But I so was _not_ prepared for Greek mythology to come attacking us.

We ran through the gate and kept running and running and—oh hey! Is that a car?

I dragged him towards it and pushed the driver out of the way (sorry, bud, but you gotta do what you gotta do). Percy pushed me into the back and closed the door hurriedly.

"Hurry, Percy! It's getting closer!" I rushed him.

"Okay, okay! Just give me a second!" He bent down under the wheel, above the pedals and did something I couldn't see. Probably start the car with the wires under there, since he'd learned to do that.

Indeed, it started and he turned the car around and gunned it. I sat there, gripping his jacket and hyperventilating.

"I'll take us back to the truck, 'kay, Annabeth?" I just nodded, looking at him through the mirror.

I had been bored in the limo before and had memorized the turns and streets in case we left unexpectedly. I gave him directions and we got there in ten minutes thanks to his crazy driving.

He parked the car in front of the truck and we hopped out and into our previous car.

Percy sighed in relief after we looked round for that old hag of a bat.

I pulled Percy's arm around me and cried into his chest. I was seriously overwhelmed by all that had happened, and the fact that we almost died, Percy even more so.

Then I remembered that Percy had golden dust all over him and sneezed. He opened the door and brushed it all off; I just watched him, dead tired. When he got back in and started the car, I curled back up into his side, not caring about seatbelts. Percy hugged me close and whispered to me, as I listened to his steady heartbeat, "You're cute when you sneeze."

"How can anyone be cute when they _sneeze_?"

He just chuckled and kissed the top of my head, taking hold of the wheel, "Right now, we're getting out of this state. After that, we're headed straight towards the nearest library to figure out what the hell is going on."


	11. Chapter 11

**Holy shizzle. When was the last time i updated? does anyone know? Psh, i sure dont. Really sorry about the wait, guys.**

**demigod-wannabe-love: thanks, peep. Sorry, it's been almost a month since ive updated, huh?**

**Perserverance: haha, yea, my mind is retarded like that, lol. hey, being a girl, dont sweat; annabeth will get her chance, just you wait. sorry 'bout the wait!**

**lovelikewoe13: yea, as usual, percy to the rescue! yep, annabeth's at last rubbed off on him. (yes!) sorry for the wait, bud, hope you like it.**

**Cloud calm: yea, i am pretty random, and last time i check, this was under the romance genre. Whoa! you hav a fox? *silent for several seconds, then calmly nods* sweet. for some reason, i want a panda cub; thatd b adorable. or...maybe one of those ginormous savannah cats. then again, they cost like, thousands of dollars..o.O' then again, a panda cub probably does too. And-psh-where the heck am i gonna put a panda? *sighs* well...**

**meeeethegr8: haha, yea...oh wait, no-i mean-yes-well, not exactly. just...it'd b better to cut through my stutters and just say; read the chappie. :)**

**Riley Coyote: WAFFLES! ..Kinda scary, if u ask me. I mean, i'm a waffle girl, yet...i like waffles...would that be considered carnivorous? No, no it's a form of cannibalism. idk, but my friend's nickname is 'mango' (long story) and she likes mangos...*shrug* whatever. I hate strawberry shortcake! then again...WHAT? Aw, crap; strawberry has everything. haha, so hows ur summer? ugh, i'm trying to update more! ..but, obviously, a little somebody has failed at that. wow..really? thats a lot of forms. ok now that just makes no sense!**

**AnnaAvril555: Weirdly cool? i think i just realized how scared of you i am now. weirdly cool...um...do you mean abnormally cool? awesomely cool? strangely cool? take your pick. Wha-PSH! You cant have a good story without a cheesy title! good lord, woman, you sure are out of the loop! haha, jk jk What inspired me is "We The People" except I put "We The Orphans".**

**Awra13: I'm not sure...i mean, because i remember reading a couple stories about percy being raped and abused and stalked by gabe. i think its called I'm A Mute, but idk, it might be a different one. Anywho, i decided to make a story that was less...confusing. Also, more appropriate. Raping isnt a small matter, now, is it?**

**Mundster Madman: Haha, you got it, bud. Argh, heres the other wait; really sorry! mind forgiving again?**

**I'mDreaming: You're absolutely right. I think I was just a little unsure of how to end it, what with all that had just happened, and i overdid it a bit. I'll try to make her more headstrong like we know her. Exactly what i meant! throughout all that they've been through, shouldn't they have, idk, some kind of emotional break down or something? Idk, i still obviously have a lot to learn. Nah, you're not missing anything. I purposely made them seperate from her. Don't worry, it's all part of the story. Thanks for the CC, i really appreciate it.**

**C-Nuggets N.L: Lol, that reminds me! I have got to put Tyson in here somewhere! I mean, where does he fit in all this? We cant have a good story without Tyson! Ditched Rachel? Pssshhhh...I purposely did that. Do you think i should do part of the next chapter in her POV?**

**lily-vanilly1166: Haha, you'd probably be disgusted if you saw me sneeze. When i sneeze, it's like a huge explosion erupts from my mouth and i practically scream "AAACCHHHOOOOO!" then i'll just sniff and walk off like nothing happened. Most heart attacks occur because of me. I have a feeling I shouldn't be proud of that.**

**starglow13: You know whats sad? For a second there, I was actually worried about your fish. Thats just sad. *shakes head with a sigh***

**Nyxchick: You just made me realized how much I'm craving orange juice right now...thanks! ;D**

**Skywriter5: Aw, whats that supposed to mean? *pouts* haha, jk.**

**TNT and KC: Well then good thing you're reading this thing! Mm...yea, yea im pretty sure thats how you spell it...Haha, you're the third to ask that. That means theres only three good readers who actually take the time to stop and wonder about this. Sad...But yeah, i made her disappear on purpose, so dont fret over it, she'll appear sooner or later. Sorry sorry sorry! I didnt expect myself to get so distracted easily!**

**titan616: thanks-wait seriously? first time? Do you mean first time in my story, or first time in the fanfics that you've read? Idk, either one though, it's all good.**

**HAWTgeek: I know how you feel. I woke up in the middle of the night to see the ending of...The Little Mermaid? o.O' When did that get on? But yea, i didnt get back to sleep until like five something AM..Haha, funny; we've got a lot in common, bud.**

**LadyOfTheHidden: really? wow! i wish i had dreams about my stories! Oh, you know how Stephenie Meyer had a dream about Twilight, and she wrote it down? O.O**

**Dang, i've got a lot of reviewers! ENJOY!**

"Ouch, Percy!"

"Annabeth, it's fine, really."

"OW! Percy, don't—"

"Oh, don't be such a baby."

"I am not!"

"Who cried when we got in the car?"

"I'm suffering from emotional stress issues—OW!"

He put the soaked red washcloth—from cleaning my cuts—on his thigh and took out some bandages, starting to wrap my hands as he hummed softly to a song. I felt myself reassured as he did so, and he got a tiny bit louder as he did, until he was singing softly.

"_Don't be afraid_

_Just believe me, be safe_

_Tonight I'll be here with you_

_Just to be near to you_

_Dangers and quarries_

_Let go of your worries_

_Tonight I'll be here with you_

_Just to be near to you"_

I watched his confident hands wrap my wounds, soothed by his musical, velvety voice.

"_You see the tides high_

_Don't comply with life's lie_

_Tonight I'll be here with you_

_Just to be near to you_

_Lay down your sweet head_

_Pick the right path and be led_

_Tonight I'll be here with you_

_Just to be near to you"_

He smiled, finished with the bandages, "There, all done." He put the bandages away and kissed my head as he stood, whispering, "I understand why you're stressed, Wise Girl. Go to sleep."

I watched him go, leaving to the shower. Obediently, I slipped under the comforter and sheets and snuggled in it, listening to the steady ticks of the clock.

We were in a motel for a night or so. It's called Auburn Motel. Tomorrow we were going to go check out the Auburn Library and see if we could pick up on anything.

I hummed the tune of the lullaby softly, remembering when I'd first heard that song.

_I was curled up on the bed, crying softly into my knees. Percy had been taken to see his mother, but I can hear Gabe beating him instead. Another cry of pain muffled from the other side of the house and I cry harder, hating this feeling of vulnerability and helplessness. An hour later, Percy's pushed inside, and lands in a motionless, silent heap in the middle of the floor._

_I jump off the bed and nudge his shoulder a little. He does nothing. I tug on his arm persistently, more tears rolling down my cheeks as I think Gabe's finally done it. He killed Percy._

_Then Percy coughs and covers his mouth, rolling over onto his back and pulling back his hand to reveal a tooth and a little blood. He grins dourly through his pain and croaks, "That's one way to lose a loose tooth."_

_I giggle happily, seeing the gap; one of his canine teeth is missing. I'm beaming, seeing that he's okay, but I try to scold him, "Percy, this is serious! How badly are you hurt?"_

_He squirms a little, wiggles his fingers, nose and toes, tests his muscles. His expression turns sour, "Broken right index finger, sprained ankle, bruised left ribcage…I think that's it, except I have a big bump on the back of my head, size of a golf ball or something, and I have a headache."_

_I knit my fingers into his hair and feel the swelling bruise, huffing. I help him up and get him onto the bed, sitting with his back against the wall, feet hanging off the side of the bed. I use his pocketknife to chip off two thin, but sturdy, pieces of wood from the wooden floors. I hand the blade the Percy, who cuts off a long strip of the pathetic blanket we have, and I set the bone, making Percy wince, but do nothing._

_He watches, gritting his teeth in pain, as I create a makeshift splint for his finger, then mutters, "Thanks, Annabeth."_

_I make a splint for his ankle, too, then sit beside him and rest my head on his shoulder. I don't realize I'm crying until I'm sniffling and Percy whispers, "I'm fine, Annabeth. I probably wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for you."_

_I weep quietly into his arm. What did he do to deserve this? He's the kindest person I've ever met and my best friend. He's always looking on the bright side and comforting me and he doesn't deserve this! He'd be better off dead, so that he doesn't have to suffer along with me._

"_You don't deserve this," I wail, choking on my words._

"_You don't either! You shouldn't suffer with me," he says, oblivious to how close to my thoughts he is._

_I just shake my head, sobbing harder._

_It's silent for a moment, but then I hear him sing almost inaudibly,_

"Don't be afraid

Just believe me, be safe

Tonight I'll be here with you

Just to be near to you

Dangers and quarries

Let go of your worries

Tonight I'll be here with you

Just to be near to you

You see the tides high

Don't comply with life's lie

Tonight I'll be here with you

Just to be near to you

Lay down your sweet head

Pick the right path and be led

Tonight I'll be here with you

Just to be near to you"

_I sniffled, murmuring, "Where'd you hear that?"_

"_My mom used to sing it to me before she got all locked up. Whenever I go to see her she sings this to me, too. It helps me stay strong, and I thought maybe it would help you, too," he explains, watching me hopefully, despising seeing me in this condition as much as I hate seeing him like that._

_I sniff and hug him tightly, ignoring when he winces at his ribs and smiling through my tears, "It did."_

I smile. Even when he was eight he was thoughtful. Percy comes out of the shower in regular plaid pajama pants and he lies down across from me, on the couch. We smile at each other and sing the lullaby until we fall asleep.

"Excuse me, but can you tell us where the mythology section is?" I asked politely at the information desk. The worker pointed us to the right direction and Percy and I scanned the shelves.

"I found Greek myths," Percy whispered, not wanting to disturb anyone. We look through a book of Greek monsters. Percy points to a picture, "A Fury. That's what came after us."

"We should probably avoid calling them by their names. I'd rather not be chased by mythical creatures."

He nods, "Agreed. So…if these monsters are all real, then…aren't the gods real?"

We looked to each other, then laughed at the pure idiocy of this comment.

Then we think about it and frown thoughtfully.

"Okay, maybe we shouldn't laugh," I grumbled.

"But…remember what Rachel was saying? Satyrs come along to protect the kid; the kid thinks that the parent who's MIA hates them, etc. Why would the satyr protect the kid?"

"Uh…from monsters, that's obvious."

"Yep, that's for sure. But…"

"Yeah. It's not like the satyr would take the kid somewhere and—"

We stared wide eyed at each other in realization. Percy looked round, then leaned close and he hissed, "That's why! The satyr takes the kid to some place for them."

"It has to be somewhere safe, a place where they'll be protected," I said thoughtfully.

"But it can't be suspicious. I mean, you can't just have a whole bunch of kids disappearing," Percy added, for once showing his true intelligence.

"So…okay I'm stuck," I gave up, thinking hard but coming up blank

"Remember? Rachel said we have to go to Manhattan, in New York," Percy mumbled as he flipped through the book, looking for pictures of the gods.

I wacked my memory and asked, "Isn't that where you lived when you were little?"

"Upper East Side, yeah," he says distractedly.

"Well where are we now?"

"About seven or eight minutes from the Auburn Municipal Airport," he said, shutting the book and placing it back on the shelf. "But I have this gut feeling that we shouldn't go to that airport."

"Yeah, me too," I said as we walked out, "should we go to the Olympic Regional Airport like we planned?"

His lips twitched amusedly, "Olympic."

I smiled, "Olympia, Olympic. Funny."

He chuckled, "Well, let's do a trivia. Whose kid am I?"

I thought about it, looking him over, studying his sea green eyes. "Mm…Poseidon, Zeus or—"

The sky rumbled.

I raised an eyebrow, "Okay…that was weird, but fine. The sea god, the king of the gods, the god of light, or…I don't know, someone."

"Poseidon," Percy whispered, trying it out for size. "Yeah, that sounds right. And you? Daughter of Wisdom herself, but of course."

"Athena," I murmured. I grinned, "Well that would suck; aren't they like, sworn enemies or something?"

He laughed, "Something like that. I guess they'll just have to learn to deal with it."

I laughed with him, and we walked back to the motel since it was only around two minutes away, joking about it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Aw man, I was reading everyone's reviews, and I just couldn't help myself. I just _had _to put this up. XD**

**Skywriter5: I'm glad you liked it! Oh I know right? I seriously wanna kick his butt! Haha, yea, I couldn't help but to put that in there. XD **

**HAWTgeek: I know right. Hm...I was actually just thinking about that too. Well, I've decided that they've been homeschooled; Gabe would rather they knew how to count money and not get ripped off than become broke. I know, it's adorable how he's like that, huh? And doesn't every girl wish they had a guy like that? I know I sure do. By reading this next chapter, you'll find out jus how immature i am, haha. Well at least you have a dog! I have three cats who only care about themselves! Daughter of Aphrodite? Nice. Haha, I hope you read this chapter before night time!**

**Lovin'It: You actually gave me the idea of this chapter. Lol, I just couldn't help but immediately write this when you said that! XD**

**C-Nuggets N.L: Hm...I'm not sure. But I'm going to play around with this story and have our two favorite demigods travel a bit on the way. I'll make them go to the Grand Canyon, of course, but do you hav any suggestions? Like, maybe Hoover Dam? Idk. I did a LITTLE section of Rachel in this chappie, just to give you the idea that she's okay. **

**Mundster Madman: Yup, yup, yup. Well maybe I can make it up to you with this hilarious chappie. ;)**

**meeeethegr8: Haha, yea i couldn't really think of a way for them to figure it out, since they got separated from Rachel. Lol, I'm pretty sure everyone's heard it, bud. The song sucks!**

**filmyfurry: I decided to make it up to you guys for the long wait. So this hilarious chapter was born! It's guaranteed to be a favorite to all readers! lol jk jk**

**JayJay-Lynn: That's a good idea! I'll keep that in mind for the next chappies; thnx!**

**ilovepie: Actually, as long as it insults Gabe, I really have no problem with that, haha**

**Hope you enjoy, peeps!**

_"But it can't be suspicious. I mean, you can't just have a whole bunch of kids disappearing," Percy added._

Athena smiled, "I'm starting to really grow fond of the young man."

Aphrodite giggled for an insanely long time, "I _know_, right? He's so adorable!" Then she sighed dreamily, "If only he'd been born back in Greece, then I could've been with him..."

Poseidon huffed, "I doubt it, Aphrodite. My son is too sensible to be with a crazy woman like you."

"You forget that I can charm-speak," she said slyly, standing next to a cardboard life size Percy.

"For the last time, I would not allow my son to be with you!"

"Aphrodite, will you stop cuddling with a shirtless cardboard Perseus," Athena groaned, ripping it away from her.

Said love goddess gasped, "You're absolutely right, Athena!"

Athena sighed, thinking that at last some sense had been kicked into her.

"I should get a life size shirtless _statue _of him!" Aphrodite jumped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly as she squealed.

Athena hit her head repeatedly against her throne, moaning something about how annoying it is to be stuck with the goddess of love for eternity.

Apollo watched the son of Poseidon, saying softly to himself, "I wonder what would happen if I put my blessing on him..."

Artemis, too, was gazing intensely at the black haired teenager, "He's quite sensible. Wise, smart...doesn't go after looks, but what's on the inside...He has my blessing!"

Percy, who was just about to turn on the TV, suddenly fell back onto the bed, saying, "Whoa, what the heck?" He felt lightheaded for a second, but it went away immediately.

He looked up at surprised Annabeth, "Have you ever wondered what it's like to take a walk through a park when there's a full moon?"

She shrugged, sitting next to him, "It _would _be really pretty, but it'd be even prettier if we were near a lake or the ocean to see the moonlight hit the water."

He nodded, then said, confused, "I have a sudden urge to get a bow of arrows and wear silver." She laughed.

Apollo glared at his sister, "Oh, heck, no! I claimed him first!"

Percy blinked, "We should buy a guitar. I got a sudden song idea."

Annabeth put her head on his shoulder, "You always had a good voice."

"Thanks, Wise Girl. Maybe we could both sing in it..."

"You're so random sometimes it's adorable," she said, smiling as she hugged his arm.

"—but you didn't do anything about it until I did and—"

"—Well maybe I was just about to before you butted in and—"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" The rest of the Olympians yelled at Artemis and Apollo.

Zeus rubbed his temples, grumbling.

Poseidon was discussing things with Athena, "Do you think we should send them magical weapons?"

"They _are_ doing fantastic on their own...but now that they know who they are..."

"More monsters could come," they said together.

"Aw, but it's so much more romantic to see them struggling to protect each other," Aphrodite giggled, butting in.

"Well...at least our blessing," Athena said to Poseidon, "You bless my daughter, and I bless your son."

"Deal," he said firmly.

"I wish we were by the beach so that we could be swimming right now," Annabeth sighed.

Percy told her wisely, "But we'd have to put sunscreen on before we went in; you'll thank me when your back isn't bright red."

"Oh, hold on a second! What if I want to bless the punks," Ares said gruffly.

"Well, you might want to do it now...everyone else is," Zeus muttered.

"I never said you were stupid!" Annabeth yelled.

"Oh, psh, okay! But you were _implying_ that I was!"

"_No,_ I wasn't! I never said that you were dumb! You're the exact opposite!"

"Lying won't get us anywhere, Annabeth!" Percy shouted.

"Aaaarrreessss," Aphrodite complained in a whine, "You're ruining it!"

He shrugged.

"Ugh, fine, I'll just give them _my _blessing!"

"Why the heck do you—" Percy suddenly stopped yelling, as did Annabeth. He smiled kindly down at her, holding out his arms.

She smiled and embraced him fiercely, cheek pressed against his chest.

He wrapped his strong arms around her tightly, protectively, "I don't even remember what we were fighting about."

She sighed contently, "Like it matters. As long as we're together, I'm happy."

He nodded in agreement, kissing the top of her head.

"Okay, now this is getting just ridiculous," Hephaestus chuckled.

"I'll do it if you do it," Zeus said.

"Okay then, I'll go first."

"What if they made a sword that could change into a spear which could change into a javelin which could change into a knife which could change into a bow?" Percy suddenly asked.

"What if we made it?" Annabeth shot back, pulling back enough to grin at him.

"What if we sold it to other demigods?" He said, starting to get hyped up.

"What if we became rich?" She replied, also excited.

"What if we used the money to make more things?"

"Man, we gotta invent all this—"

She stopped, and then said, "Maybe we should go to the Olympic Regional Airport right now. To save time. Plus it's cool to be up so high and see all the clouds and everything, huh?"

"Well, we're already packed so—What if we made a suitcase that could change into a shield?"

"Awesome!"

**Rachel's POV**

"Are you sure this is the place, Ms. Dare?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, George. Thanks for the ride."

I got out of the limo and waited until it left before climbing up the hill. Man, demigods must be pretty athletic if they can stand getting up this without feeling what a workout this is.

Immediately, I ran to the big house yelling for Chiron. He came out in wheelchair form, bewildered.

"Rachel? What are you doing here?"

I held up a finger, telling him to wait until I could catch my breath. My hands on my knees, I took deep breathes for a couple minutes before blurting, "I can't tell if Annabeth and Percy are alive because Percy nearly got killed by the Minotaur but he killed it and then they were being chased by a Kindly One but I _think_ they might have gotten away, though I'm not positively sure."

He stared at me, blank expression.

I laughed nervously, "Heh, heh...uh...Chiron?"

"Stayin' alive, stayin' alive. Uh, uh, uh, uh stayin' aliiiiiiiii-iiiiiiii-iiiiiiii-iiiiive—"

"STOP SINGING STAYING ALIVE!" Artemis shrieked, poking him in the side.

He giggled.

The throne room fell quiet.

"Did you just...giggle?" Athena said incredulously.

"N-no," Apollo said weakly, turning as red as his sacred crows.

Artemis poked him again and a giggle erupted from him.

Ares bust up laughing, and everyone else soon followed.

Even Hestia was biting her lip to hide a smile as she tended to the hearth.

**I just wanna say that I'm dedicating this chapter to a reviewer of mine who gave me the idea for this.**

**Lovin'It, thanks a lot for the idea!**

**Hope you guys had your fair share of laughs for the day! ;D**

**-WaffleGirl**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry guys, I WOULD answer all your reviews, but when you have nearly four pages of reviews for just ONE chapter, you get kinda reluctant, y'know?**

**And I'm not showing favoritism, so don't even try that 'but-I'm-your-favorite-reviwer-aren't-I-?' crap, kay?**

**No hard feelings, except for the fact that I epically fail at updating, as I have frequently reminded you ('you' being 'all you steamin' mad readers') and will continue to do so unless neccessary.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

"Helloooo Mount St. Helens. You hungry, Wise Girl?"

"No. Are you?"

"Nah, not really."

"Me neither," I mumbled, trying to ignore the feeling that spread through me at Percy's touch. His thumb rubbed my knuckles as we held hands and I sighed, all tension in my posture gone.

He has that effect on me.

Ever since the hotel, or motel, whatever. Ever since the hotel/motel thing, I've been feeling both easily annoyed _and_ cuddly.

Well...Percy _did _remind me of a teddy bear...

I hugged him around the waist suddenly, pressing my body against his. Inhaling his intoxicating scent, I smiled. _Oh yeah, now that's more like it..._

Percy, instead of asking, just nudged me back so I was upright again and put his arm around my waist. Whoa, my teddy bear hugs back.

...

Whoo hoo!

"So Percy. How did you know that I would have liked to go to Mount St. Helens?"

He smiled sheepishly, "Well I kind of looked up the National Monuments of the United States and I found this so I just thought that you'd like to see a National Monument."

"You crack me up with your shocking observing skills."

"One of the reasons why you love me." I just rolled my eyes and looked away; he had no idea as to how right he was.

"Whatever you say, Seaweed Brain. Whatever you say."

"Well, I say that we go over there. There's this weird little metal spider contraption that's scuttling into that thicket," he said with surprising intelligence, pointing at the shiny glint of silver.

Trying to ignore the metal 'bug,' as it will be called from now on, I stared at him. He met my gaze, "What? What!"

"You've been using that dictionary I bought you for your birthday, haven't you?"

"It's a possibility."

"I thought so."

"Are we going to follow it or what?" He gestured to it; it was already disappearing.

"Is 'or what' an option?"

"Nope. Let's go," he decided, pulling me along like a ragdoll.

As we ran through the woods following the 'bug,' slapping away branches but still getting scratched, I told him accusingly, "You know, you of all people should know that I really hate spiders, Seaweed Brain. Or they hate me is more like it."

"I do know. I'm the one who was forced to go into the bathroom while you were inside wearing only a towel two and a half weeks ago at Mt. Rainer."

"Hey! That spider tried to kill me," I said, slowing down slightly before catching up again.

He snorted, "Just like the giant teddy bear tried to suffocate you."

I blushed crimson, "You remember that?"

"How could I forget? We escaped when we were ten and went to that fair. I won a game, got you the giant blue teddy bear you liked, and you fell asleep—"

"—in your arms on the bench. You were hugging me, I was hugging the teddy bear...I slipped down into your lap in my sleep and woke up with the teddy bear on top of me. Percy, I had a nightmare because of that thing, you can't blame me for—"

"—rushing to conclusions that it was still a part of your dream?" He finished with a charming grin that only he could manage while getting slapped by poison ivy. Ouch.

I gave him a weird look, panting now, "Okay, the way we said that together makes me feel like we're a creepy old married couple. Next thing you know, we'll be buying prune juice together from the—"

"—'Ye Old Granny Super Market'?" He said with a breathless laugh.

I scowled at him, "Stop that."

He smirked, but kept his gaze on the 'bug.'

With a shudder running down my spine, I reluctantly did the same.

* * *

"Whoa, hey...where'd they go? One moment they're talking about prune juice, and the next...they're just...gone?" Apollo leaned forward in his seat, squinting at the spot the two teens just were.

Artemis was reading the comics from a New York Times newspaper, smirking at some, looking like she wanted to throw up at the others.

Poseidon looked up from polishing his trident, "What?"

"Yeah, they just disa—"

But Poseidon ran right past Apollo, grabbing the newspaper from Artemis and shouting, "Shamoo's son died? But...But how?"

Apollo glared and huffed, settling for Official Olympian Lookout for Recklessly Adorable Demigod Couples. **("'Recklessly adorable'?" You ask yourselves, bewildered by Apollo's awesome wording. I answer smugly as I drink my morning coffee, "But of course, my dear readers. This is Percabeth we're talking about. Enough said.")**

Athena was figuring out some theory on Global Warming, muttering to herself with her usually tidy hair all messy with exhaustion.

Aphrodite temporarily looked away from her twenty foot tall statue of a certain black haired hero and screamed in pure horror.

Everyone looked up and yelled various exclaims of which had nothing to do with what was on Aphrodite's one-track beauty-alert mind. "What is it?" "Where's the fire?" "Did I miss _Oprah_?" "Is the world ending?" "Did you find my sock?" "Do you see Annabeth or Percy?" "My laundry isn't _that_ smelly, is it?"

"WHAT IS IT? IS THERE A SPIDER?" Athena shouted, way louder than the others and searching the throne room frantically, practically hyperventilating.

Aphrodite took a deep breath to calm herself and started checking her make up in her portable, dare I say it, pink and fluffy-feather-covered mirror, "Omg, don't get so worked up. I just realized how disgusting your hair looks, Athena. Want a makeover?"

Athena paled, "Oh, uh...Wow, did you hear that? I think I'd better...so I can...and you can't...Gotta go." She was gone.

Aphrodite pouted, "My makeovers aren't _that _bad, right, Ares?"

He rubbed his neck awkwardly, "Well, uh...um...Hey now—"

"_RIGHT_ GUYS?"

Frightened, everyone quickly agreed, laughing nervously. She glared, "Fine. I see how it is. I'll just go do a makeover on Annabeth to impress Percy...Oh, wait a second...where'd they go?"

"WHO DARE TAKE MY SON?" Poseidon bellowed, marching over to search for his demigod child. Apollo childishly stuck out his bottom lip and took out a sheet of paper, clearing his throat.

"Do _you_ want a make over, Uncle Poseidon?" Aphrodite asked innocently, skipping over to him with a brilliant smile that made even Apollo cringe at the sight.

Ares commented calmly, putting on dark sunglasses so as to protect his literally flaming eyes, "Dude that is one bright smile."

"I'm not even your uncle."

"Well...sure, but...Do you?"

"Oh, uh..."

"APOLLO STOP THAT RACKET RIGHT THIS INSTANT, YOU NINCOMPOOP!" Artemis shrieked as Apollo starting 'singing,' stomping over to him and kicking him in the groin.

"Oooo!" Everyone winced, cringing away from the two.

And no one even notice the empty throne belonging to the god of fire and forges.

* * *

"Okay, Wise Girl. What's the plan? After all, we just charged in here at Hephaestus' orders, and don't try denying it; I heard you mumbling to yourself and literally drawing words in the air on the way over," Percy told me.

I muttered some more to myself, trying to refrain from drawing words in the air again. Eventually, I groaned, "I don't know! How do we get them out of here? There's too many!"

"You just love pointing out the obvious, don't you," he grumbled, obviously in a bad mood seeing as we were supposed to have an incredibly awesome day together. I knew just how he felt...

"And besides, we don't even have any weapons!" I hissed, trying to keep quiet from our hiding place.

"Well...obviously, fire doesn't affect them, so...freezing them would be a nice option...if we had a way to do so."

"Yeah, _if_. I don't have the patience for time-wasting _ifs_."

"I may be a son of Poseidon, but I doubt I can call upon enough water from who-knows-where to an extinct volcano _or_ freeze these...these...ugh, I don't know, but they sure are ugly."

I rolled my eyes, "They're called telkhines, dumbo; they're sea demons and smiths. Let's just think of a plan, Seaweed Brain." I watched them as they created something, a scythe by the looks of it. "Wow, I wonder what that's for, huh, Percy...Percy?" I looked to see nothing but air next to me.

Oh Shizzle Mcnizzle.

I looked around frantically, even checking under a pebble, but then I stopped when I realized how stupid that was. Percy couldn't fit under a freakin' pebble.

...

I checked again.

I gave up after a few minutes of pebble-checking and continued to watch the telkhines work, when Percy appeared, saying, "Annabeth, we have to go right now."

"Right now?" I complained, wondering what he'd done this time.

"Yes right now! Hurry we have to—" A whole bunch of younger telkhines came out of this cave thingamajiger, stumbling over each other and eyeing us hungrily as though mentally screaming 'MEAT. MEAT. I HUNGRY. NEED FOOD. MMM, DEMIGODS! MEAT! MEAT!'

I groaned, "Percy, how—"

"Annabeth, get out of here. Now."

I stared at him, shocked by the firmness in his voice, "Wha—Percy, not without you!"

He grabbed me by the arm and pushed me roughly towards the exit, "Get out of here! I have a plan!" I stepped back, in a daze, as he glared at me with a crazed, panicked look in his eyes.

Right then, I knew he had no plan.

"Percy," I protested weakly.

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE!" He shouted, kicking away several telkhines who'd managed to race ahead of the rest. "We don't have a choice!"

I knew he was right. I had to go tell Hephaestus, get help. But there was a very slim chance he'd make it out alive, let alone make it out at all.

Then there was a sudden desire to kiss him, just to make it clear how much he meant to me. I started to get closer when he pushed me through the exit just before a boulder fell, blocking the exit.

"NO! PERCY!"

* * *

**Percy's POV**

I could here her shouting my name, but I just concentrated on the telkhines. One of the larger ones laughed cruelly and threw a handful of lava at me. When it landed on my leg, it didn't hurt at all. Just warm.

Then it started burning.

"AAAHHHHHH!"

As more lava landed on my body, I felt this weird sensation, like my gut clenching, or a pull, or maybe even both. I dunno. I was a little too busy getting burnt to death to care.

Next thing I know, and soaring through the air so high I can't even breathe right, and then everything goes black.

* * *

**Okay, first of all, I'd like to apologize for taking so long, readers, but I seriously had NO inspiration (spelling?) and couls't think of what to do. Finally, I forced myself to do this, and I know I skipped a lot of parts, but let's face it, i'm super lazy.**

**Sorry guys, next chappie will be up on Saturday or Sunday.**


	14. Chapter 15

**Want the truth? I'm really not in the best of moods. I was in a good mood up until now. I was replying to EVERYONE'S reviews and it was going awesomely until I accidently got out of this tab as I was writing. I hate you, Life.**

**Okay, thank you everyone for reviewing, special thanks to MrCoyote, my online-friend-from-who-knows-where, and HAWTgeek, who is also my online-friend-from-who-knows-where. I'm not showing favoritism, children, calm yourselves sillies.**

**Don't worry, I did indeed read EVERYONE'S reviews and they all touched my heart and made me cry and I ended up donating millions of dollars. *glances at script* Or uh...something like that.**

**Honestly, I recently got an alarmingly motivational review from my one of my other stories that really made an impact on me and made me feel real guilty and it just kept NAGGING and NAGGING like an annoying little dog that humps your leg until I finally decided to kick the dog outside and write this. New year, new start, eh?**

**Suggestions, thoughts, comments and concerns? Type 'em up in a review, anonymous or otherwise, and I'll be sure to get back to you.**

* * *

I gazed up at the stars in the sky, wondering absentmindedly how much time had passed here in Ogygia. Two minutes? Two hours? Two days? Months? Weeks? Years? It was so peaceful here, with waves crashing against the sand and the palms trembling in the warm tropical breeze.

I could faintly hear Calypso humming as she tended to her Moonlace. I smiled. Her voice was soothing.

Closing my eyes, I conjured a picture of Calypso and me in the future. We could be out for a stroll on the beach, holding hands. Or making futile attempts to climb the tallest palm tree we could find, laughing. Watering her Moonlace together, chatting. Or just lying in the sand, dozing off in the sun.

It all seemed too good to be real; an eternity with Calypso. Too perfect. A dream. What more could I ask for?

I heard her walk over and lie down next to me, whispering, "How are you?"

"How are _you?_" I shot back, smirking.

"Good, thank you."

"Then I'm feeling wonderful," I whispered, opening my eyes and grinning back.

She smiled, love in her eyes. I think I was the same. She _was_ even more beautiful than Aphrodite ever could imagine being, and she had the most precious heart of gold.

I reached over and tucked a strand of wavy caramel colored hair behind her ear, my hand lingering as I told her honestly, "You're beautiful."

Her cheeks turned the color of a rose and I added, "I didn't mean on the outside, even though you are beautiful on the outside, but I originally meant you. Just Calypso."

She scooted closer, hesitantly setting her soft hand on my cheek and leaning forward. I knew what she was going to do, and I knew I would respond just the way she wanted me to.

But I don't think I can take knowing this.

I quickly sat up, eyes watering as I looked out to the crashing waves that had once calmed me. It now brought panic. Something's not right here.

But what?

She sat up as well, looking down at her hands guiltily with a sigh. "I...I apologize for that. I know you love that girl, Annabeth, whom you always talked about."

Annabeth.

Annabeth! How could I have forgotten her?

I smiled sadly at her. "It's okay, but I have to leave."

"I know," she whispered, "just...please. Stay one more day?"

One more day away from Annabeth. One more day with Calypso.

One more day of Annabeth grieving my supposed death. One more day, my last day, with Calypso.

A day of grief and hope.

I look up at the stars, gazing at the moon.

"One day," I promised the moon, like Annabeth could hear me. I turned back to Calypso and kissed her cheek and gave her a short hug before I told her I was going to bed. She nodded in agreement and went to bed, too.

One day.

* * *

I think I was heading towards the churro stand, but I couldn't really remember. I only knew that Percy wasn't coming back this time. He came back from the train wreck, he lived when Gabe had attempted to drown him, he had returned from when Gabe's goons were supposed to cut off his limbs and leave him to bleed to death, he even survived the plane crash, even after being in a persistent vegetative coma for three weeks. I remember that. He was supposed to become a cripple, with his legs no longer functioning, but he still—he _had_ walked after that.

He wasn't coming back this time.

I was so stupid, coming to this carnival where anyone could see me, but I'd realized that my birthday was in a week. In a week, I'd probably be at that camp Hephaestus told me about, but I wouldn't make friends. Not when my best friend and love was gone.

I figured I might as well attempt to continue life, for Percy's sake. If what I read about the Underworld is correct, he should be in Elysium right about now with his mom and my parents. He didn't know them, but I know they would have loved him. They probably did now.

He would probably go for a second and third life, wanting to end up in the Isle of the Blessed. He'd be a completely different, younger person while I was either old, wrinkled, gray, and shopping at the Ye Old Granny Super Market, or dead. Or maybe young and alive, if the Fates allowed me to be alive while he was.

If I was old enough, I'd probably be drinking right now.

With a sigh, I left. It wasn't even worth it.

"There she is! Ha, ha! Luck, eh?" I froze.

Please no.

"Where's that little asshole, eh brat?"

Not now. Not him.

"I ought to teach him a lesson. See what he did to me?"

I turned and winced, seeing Gabe with a long scar down his arm. Wow, Percy you are _beast_ with that knife...

"Get here, little bitch," he sneered, taking out a pistol. Oh no.

I turned and ran as fast as I could, then dodge right into an abandoned warehouse when I heard a bullet fly past.

* * *

I whistled softly, looking around. After I'd landed at a beach, I realized I didn't really have a plan, so I just walked around looking for a blonde head of curly hair or the truck we had. I really wish there was some way to contact her.

A strange, yet not unknown, sound pierced my thoughts and several other people looked around like I did. Gunshots? Someone pulled the trigger again, so I ran towards it. I heard yelling and laughing and more gunshots from an old, abandoned building. I got to help the person!

Turns out, it's really hard to maneuver through there.

"C'mon," I mumbled. "Where are you?"

"Hey-ya little Jackson," Johnny growled. His voice was just behind me. "Oh, your father will be _so _pleased." There was a little click and something cold and metal was pressed to the back of my head. "Let's go."

"No way." I spun, clasping my hands together, and hit him hard in the ribs before getting him in the crotch. It was one of those WWAD (What Would Annabeth Do) moments. "He's _not _my father!"

I took his gun and knocked him unconscious with it before running off to find Annabeth. If Gabe and Johnny were here, then it was a sure thing that Annabeth was here.

_Clang!_

"Ow! Stupid ladder...Wait, a ladder!" I climbed up it quickly so I could hopefully see what was going on. There was so much debris and rubble, though, and I can't—oh! There she is!

Annabeth's heading towards the exit!

"Jackson!"

_Thump!_ Oh...oh, that hurt...Was that a brick? A stone? Wood? It hurt...so...much...

_Annabeth..._

It was kind of dim when I woke up. There was a rush of sound, kind of like a continuous wave, and I was every few seconds. Why am I in a car? And...on the freeway?

"I'm going to pound the punk when he wakes up...The little..."

"You weren't hit with your own gun," a gruff voice interrupted. "My ribs are bruised, too."

"I heard you complaining about your balls earlier," a snicker came, from beside me.

"You have balls?" Another voice laughed, to my right. "I would have never guessed!"

"Why, I ought to—"

"HEY! Shut up!" Gabe shouted. "Shit, that car keeps tailing me!"

Annabeth? Rachel?

"Some crazy teenager—DAMMIT! The little shit just—"

_Screech!_ We slammed into something hard and my eyes refused to stay closed any longer. I tried to open the door and...Crap! It's locked and I can't open it! I slammed Marcus's head into the window, which promptly shattered it, and I kicked away the remainders before pushing myself through it.

"Jackson! I'll find you, Jackson!" Gabe screamed.

"Percy!"

Rachel! A door opened and I jumped through, past Annabeth, onto the seat. She closed it and scowled at me murderously.

"Rachel?" I squeaked.

"Shh! I'm driving!" Rachel drives like a maniac. I guess she's not used to being the one to drive her somewhere.

Annabeth, looking haggard and exhausted, huffed and turned her back to me, staring out the window.

I don't think she feels like talking. Though I _really _wanted to do otherwise, I sat there next to her, silent, and unable to think of _any _words for the grand apology I planned. It would swipe her off her feet and she would forgive me; there would be blue cookies, cakes and balloons.

It was after we reached the Dares' home and as we were stomping up the stairs carelessly that I figured I could just drop all the cheesy metaphors and tell her the truth.

Rachel, I swear, is telepathic; she gave me a pointed look that drifted over to Annabeth before leaving us alone in her room.

"I, uh," I cleared my throat, "I see she got the window fixed."

No answer. Annabeth didn't even acknowledge my presence.

It was at that exact moment that I realized how much it would hurt if Annabeth decided I wasn't worth her time. She could just hop on one of Rachel's private jets and leave me. What have I done for her? I've teased her endlessly when she's trying to say something serious. I only partially listen to her most of the time. I don't even give her feelings a spare thought.

What _haven't _I done that would prove I'm not worth her time?

Oh, gods, I'm crying. Gods, stop crying...stop it...Why am I crying? I can fix this...I can fix this...No I can't.

I turned away and subtly rubbed my eyes. Who am I kidding? Annabeth means the world to me. I could hardly breathe if she hated me.

* * *

I can't believe him. He's so reckless and how the heck is he even alive? Who survives a volcanic eruption that you're in the smack-dab-middle of?

I heard Percy clear his throat behind me and his clothes rustled as he moved. Don't come over here...Don't touch me...

Percy then let out a slight sniffle and a shaky breath.

When I turned, Percy looked slightly alarmed when he realized I'd seen him. Then, he put his hands on his hips and a determined, sort of defiant expression came onto his face as he strode quickly over to the window. I watched as he rubbed his eyes.

"Percy?" I said softly. This has to be the first time I've _really_ seen Percy cry.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. His voice cracked.

"Percy, don't—"

"Annabeth, it's fine. You'll only make me feel worse."

My heart broke and I felt like crying myself. I don't really know why, though. It just hurt that something was too big for even Percy to handle with a grin.

"Gods, Percy, stop acting like a guy! Let me help you."

"No," he said strongly, but a little watery. "I can _do _this. I don't want you to help with this. I want to do it myself."

"Percy, if it's making you like this, don't even bother with it. It's not worth i—"

"Don't say that!" he shouted, turning on me. "_Never _say that! You _are _worth it, Annabeth! There's nothing you can do about it! You mean the world to me and I _will_ make up for everything I've done to you!" He stormed out of Rachel's room.

Rachel came in cautiously and looked at me questioningly.

"I think he wants to apologize for something..." She nodded for more. "And...I think he just sort of said he loved me."


End file.
